Maryland Accident Law Blog

If your child is going swimming in a Maryland pool located in a hotel or a public area, you should check to make sure that the pool owners have installed the new pool drains that have been approved by the federal government. The Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 went into effect last December and by this time public pool owners and spa operators were supposed to have installed these drains that are designed to prevent pool entrapment accidents from happening. Unfortunately, not all pool and spa owners have met this deadline.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that between 1999 and 2008, 83 children were involved in spa and pool entrapment accidents, resulting in 69 injuries and 11 deaths. Just this April, a 38-year-old man drowned in a pool entrapment accident involving a hotel pool drain. And kids, who are smaller in size, are at particular risk of becoming the victim of pool or spa entrapment accidents in the event that their hair, a body part, or swimsuit gets trapped in a drain’s powerful suction.

The CPSC says, however, that defective pool drains are not the only issue of concern for parents when it comes to protecting their kids while they are swimming. Every year, approximately 300 kids drown and 3,000 others sustain serious injuries in pools and spas throughout the US. In addition to pool entrapment injuries and drowning accidents, another cause of injury can occur when a child dives into the water and strikes his or her head on the bottom of the spa or pool.

While drowning accidents can prove fatal, those that do survive are sometimes left disabled for life because they sustained atraumatic brain injury. A child or adult that strikes his or her head against the bottom of the pool can end up with a spinal cord injury, a TBI, or broken bones.

There are steps that public and private pool and spa owners can take to protect adults and kids from getting hurt in a swimming accident. Failure to execute these safety precautions can be grounds for a Maryland premises liability claim or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Safety Concerns to Delay Opening of Some Maryland Pools, WJLA.com, May 23, 2009

CPSC Announces New Report on Child Drownings and Near-drownings in Pools and Spas, CPSC, May 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pool Safety

Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 (PDF)

Continue reading "Maryland Premises Liability: Keeping Pools Safe to Prevent Drowning Accidents" »

In Maryland, the family of a young boy who sustained serious burn injuries from sulfuric acid that two teenagers poured on a playground slide have settled their injuries to minor lawsuit. Payton Potochne was just 2 when he went down the slide that had industrial strength drain cleaner on it. The injury accident occurred at Victory Villa Elementary School.

It wasn’t until he was taken to Franklin Square Hospital that doctors determined that there was sulfuric acid on the boy’s legs and he had sustained second- and third-degree burns. The hospital had to evacuate the emergency room and the toddler was taken to Johns Hopkins Burn Center. Since the tragic playground incident, Payton has had to undergo over six surgeries, including numerous skin grafts. He will also need medical care for life because of his injuries.

A hazmat team poured thousands of gallons of water onto the slide to remove the chemical from the playground. A Baltimore County Police Department spokesperson says the dangerous liquid had been poured onto all the different playground rides, including the monkey bars and the jungle gym.

The two teens, Matt Dybala and Kyle Meredith, had told police they poured the acid onto a plastic sliding board to see if it would melt, which it didn’t. Police, however, contend that the teenagers poured at least two bottles of the chemical onto the slide and used a brush to apply the acid onto other playground equipment. Criminal charges were filed against both Dybala and Meredith, who were both found delinquent in juvenile court.

Last year, Payton's parents filed a $6 million Maryland personal injury lawsuit against the teenagers’ family. While the terms of the injuries to minors and children settlement have not been disclosed, the lawyer for Payton's family says that his clients will receive the maximum payments allowed under the homeowners insurance policies of the plaintiffs’ parents.

The Baltimore County Board of Education is the remaining defendant of the personal injury lawsuit. A civil trial is scheduled for the fall. Payton's family says the board shouldn’t have kept the drain cleaner bottles in its maintenance shed, which had been broken into in the past.

Boy’s family settles with teens who poured acid on slide, The Daily Record, May 26, 2009

Police: Playground-Dousing Teens Intended To Cause Injury, WBALTV, April 23, 2007

Toddler hospitalized with burns from acid on playground slide, USA Today, April 15, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Sulfuric Acid Facts, DHSS.mo.gov

Johns Hopkins Burn Center

A jury has awarded 18-year-old Lakia Roberts $2 million for her Maryland lead paint lawsuit. Roberts was exposed to lead paint during the first six years of her life at the Baltimore rental where she lived.

Her Maryland personal injury lawsuit, filed along with her mother, Learland D. Clark, contended that she suffered from lead poisoning after she ingested paint flakes and chips in their Baltimore rental. As a result, they claim that the teenager experienced a 10 to 12 point loss in IQ and suffers from severe cognitive deficits. The two of them filed their lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

The jury found that the home’s landlord, Attsgood Reealty, failed to remove the toxic paint that was peeling off the plaintiffs’ home walls, as well as failed to properly maintain the property. They awarded Roberts and Clark $1.5 million in non-economic damages and $500,000 in economic damages. Maryland’s cap on damages, however, reduces the plaintiffs’ non-economic damages to $350,000—the maximum amount that was allowed under state law in the early 90’s when the plaintiffs had their cause of action. This reduces the plaintiffs’ total judgment to $850,000.

Despite a nationwide ban on lead paint that is over 30-years-old, thousands of older homes—especially those that are poorly maintained—throughout the US still contain lead paint. Over 50% of the housing units in Baltimore City were made before 1950 when lead paint was still being used in homes. According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, in 2007 there were 892 cases of children in Maryland who were diagnosed with high levels of lead in their blood. 624 of those cases involved Baltimore City children.

Also, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that approximately 2/3rds of homes constructed before 1940 and 50% of homes built between 1940 and 1960 have paint on or in them that contain high levels of lead. A number of homes made after the 1960’s may also contain lead paint.

Lead paint can cause serious injury to adults and especially to children—whose mental development may become seriously and permanently impaired. If you or your child was injured or became ill or suffered other mental or physical health issues because of exposure to lead paint, you may have grounds to file a premises liability claim against a negligent landlord or a products liability lawsuit against the company that made the lead paint.

Lead paint victim awarded $2M, The Daily Record, May 15, 2009

What You Should Know About Lead Based Paint in Your Home: Safety Alert, CPSC.gov

Related Web Resources:
For many kids, lead threat is right in their own homes, USA Today, October 28, 2007

General Lead Information, CDC

This week, pharmacist Eric Cropp pleaded no contest to an involuntary manslaughter charge involving the death of a two-year-old patient in 2006. The toddler, Emily Jerry, died after she was administered an overdose of sodium chloride while undergoing chemotherapy at a hospital.

Cropp made the fatal pharmacy error while working as the supervising pharmacist at a hospital. On February 26, 2006, Cropp neglected to catch the pharmacy technician’s preparation error and properly verify whether the contents and composition of the solution were correct before approving a mix that was 23% salt-based when it should have only been 1%. The technician, Katie Dudash, later testified that she had warned Cropp that she didn’t think the mixture was correct.

Following the medication overdose, Emily slipped into a coma before dying on March 1.

Prosecutor James Gutierrez says that Cropp admitted to the mistake and says that he could have or should have seen the warning signs and caught the deadly mistake. Following the pharmacy misfill incident, another pharmacy hired Cropp, who made 15 more pharmacy errors until his license was revoked.

As part of Cropp’s plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the reckless homicide charge against him. Cropp’s sentencing is scheduled for July 17. He could end up serving a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Pharmacy misfills can be catastrophic for the patients that take the wrong medicine or dosage. This is why it is so important that the pharmacy or the pharmacist supervisor double check a prescription or mix to make sure that the dose and/or medication is correct.

In an unrelated incident in another US state, baby Lindsey Lindberg could have died last month if her mother hadn’t noticed that she gave her the wrong medication more than once because of a labeling error.

Lindsey was born in November with a heart defect. Her mother, Courtney Lindberg, had been giving her a number of prescriptions that she would get filled at a Walgreens. Right before the Lindsey was supposed to undergo open heart surgery, she began to act fussy. It wasn’t until she spit up that Courtney realized that Walgreens had put the correct label for Lindsey’s medication on a bottle containing the wrong medicine.

A 2-year-old. A death. A pharmacist facing jail. What will spur lasting change?, MedCity News, May 14, 2009

Pharmacist Could Get 5 Years For Fatal Chemo Error In Toddler, Newsnet5.com, May 13, 2009

Mom gives baby wrong drug after labeling error, SeattlePI.com, May 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Unreported Pharmacy Errors, ABC News

20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children, AHRQ.gov

Continue reading "Maryland Pharmacy Error Injury Attorneys: Fatal Error that Killed Toddler Could Send Pharmacist to Prison" »

In Maryland, Delegate Andrew A Serafina is cosponsoring a bill calling for extending the period of time that new drivers must have their learner’s permits and provisional licenses before they can receive an official driver’s license. The bill calls for increasing the age that a teen driver can get his or her provisional license to 16 years and 6 months and delaying when they can get their full driving privileges to age 18.

The legislation also includes a ban that would prevent drivers younger than 18 from driving around other minors for the first 9 months of having a license. At that point, the teen driver would only be allowed to have one minor in the car with him or her for the next nine months or until turning age 18.Current state law prevents minors with provisional licenses from having for the first 151 days any occupants in the vehicle who are under 18 that are not family members.

Following the enactment in 2005 of the latest passenger restrictions for teen drivers, there was a decrease in the number of passengers injured in teen driving accidents from over 1,000 annually (from 2003 – 2005) to less than 800 a year (from 2006 – 2007). The number of passengers killed in Maryland teen driving accidents went down from about 13 a year to approximately 8 annually.

Studies show that teen drivers are more likely to engage in aggressive driving or speeding when they are accompanied by other teenagers. Teens are also more likely to get easily distracted.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Says:

• Teen drivers make up the majority of teens that are killed in auto accidents.
• Many teenagers also have died as vehicle occupants.
• 39% of 16-19 year olds killed in Maryland traffic accidents from 1998 to 2007 were motor vehicle passengers.
• 76% of the 16-year-old vehicle occupants that died in Maryland motor vehicle accidents were teen drivers.

Measure would restrict new drivers in Md., March 28, 2009

Deciphering Details Might Necessitate a Map, The Washington Post, March 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Passenger and Nighttime Restrictions for Young Drivers, IIHS.org (PDF)

Senate Bill 265

House Bill 303

Continue reading "Maryland Teen Driving Bill Proposes Extending Time New Drivers Must Hold Learner’s Permit and Provisional License " »

This week, the Maryland Senate approved by a 43 to 4 vote a bill banning drivers from text messaging whenever they are operating their motor vehicles. If the bill becomes law, it would make reading, composing, sending, or receiving text messages a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $500 fine. Maryland would also join a growing list of states and jurisdictions, including Virginia and Washington DC, that are banning text messaging—whether on a cell phone, PDA, or IPod Touch or another device—while operating a motor vehicle.

Sending short messages via cell phone or other electronic devices is a bad habit that has grown more popular in recent years—especially among younger, more inexperienced drivers. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, one of its studies last year found that about 50% of young drivers, ages 18 – 24, text message while driving. The study found that among drivers ages 45 and older, less than 5% engaged in text messaging while operating a motor vehicle.

Text messaging is a type of distracted driving, and like all other forms of distracted driving, including talking on a handheld cellular phone, applying making, or reading the newspaper, can lead to deadly auto accidents. ABC News says that a 2006 study showed that 65% of near-motor vehicle collisions and 80% of auto crashes occur because of distracted driving.

For example, one Maryland child lost her right forearm in a catastrophic bus accident that occurred while the bus driver was texting on his cell phone. 30 people were injured in this Maryland motor vehicle accident. In another traffic accident, a 26-year-old woman died last year in a truck accident when she was struck by a tractor-trailer while the truck driver had been texting.

These kinds of catastrophic motor vehicle collisions could have been avoided if the drivers had not been engaged in distracted driving.

Md. Is Latest State to Target Text Messaging by Drivers, Washington Post, March 18, 2009

Texting While Driving Could Spell Trouble, ABC News, May 8, 2007

Driving and Dialing Bus Drivers May Case Accidents, ABC News, Feb 7, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Examination of Maryland Senate Bill 98 (PDF)

Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

Continue reading "Maryland Senate Votes for Text Messaging While Driving Ban" »

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says most of the victims killed in teen driving accidents are people other than the teen drivers. The AAA compiled this information based on its analysis of 10 years of crash information.

According to its findings:

• Between 1998 and 2007, 28,138 victims died in teen (Ages 15 – 17) driving accidents in the United States.
• Between 1995 and 2004, 30,917 people were killed in teen driving accidents.
• Approximately 1/3 of fatalities are the teen drivers, ages 15 to 17.
• Almost 2/3rd of the other teen driving accident victims are the passengers in the vehicle, other vehicle occupants, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists.

AAA Western and Central New York President and CEO Tom Chestnut says that these findings show how important teen driving safety is not just to the teenagers but to everyone involved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the leading causes of teen driving deaths and accidents include:

• Driver inexperience
• Immaturity
• Speeding
• Drunk driving
• Failing to wear a seat belt
• Talking on the cell phone
• Listening to loud music
• Talking to other teenagers in the vehicle
• Driving at night
• Drug use
• Drowsy driving

The NHTSA recommends ways to reduce motor vehicle accidents involving teen drivers including:
• Eliminating teen access to alcohol.
• Graduated driver’s licensing program.

Maryland had strict driving laws for teenagers including:
• A teen driver must have a provisional license for six months before he or she can apply for a provisional license.
• A Maryland teen driver must undergo at least 60 hours of driving practice with someone 21-years-old or older who has had a driver’s license for at least 3 years.
• 10 of the practice driving hours must happen at night.

Teen crashes more likely to kill others, WIVB.com, March 2, 2009

Maryland Teen Driving Laws, About.com

Related Web Resources:
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Maryland Website for Parents of Young Drivers

Continue reading "AAA Says Most Teen Driving Accident Victims are Other Motorists, Vehicle Occupants, and Pedestrians" »

In Washington DC, the father of eight-year-old twin boys is suing the DC Water and Sewer Authority for $200 million. John Parkhurst says that his children have learning and behavioral problems because they were affected by the high levels of lead present in the city’s waters from 2001 through 2004. Parkhurst, who filed his personal injury case in DC Superior Court, hopes that the case will become a class-action lawsuit.

According to the DC injuries to minors lawsuit, when his sons were babies they were fed formula and food that were mixed with tap water. At age 2, the boys had a medical checkup that revealed signs of lead poisoning. Parkhurst's complaint accuses WASA officials of concealing the fact that the elevated levels of lead in DC waters would eventually prove to be a serious health concern.

Just this year, a new study found that about 42,000 District children were exposed to high levels of lead in the city’s tap water from 2000 to 2003. Many of these children would have been under 3 years of age or in their mothers’ wombs at the time.

Lead Exposure
Lead exposure can cause different degrees of developmental and behavioral problems in kids. Some of the effects can range from irritability, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity to growth delays, learning and reading problems, permanent brain damage, and death.

Common causes of lead poisoning include lead in paint chips from buildings and the dust in the surrounding soil. Also, in the last couple of years, toy manufacturers have announced massive recalls of some popular products after discovering that a number of toys, many of them made in China, had been manufactured using excessive levels of lead.

If your son or daughter became ill or was injured because of exposure to a hazardous or toxic product, you may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit or products liability claim on their behalf.

Lead in Water Harmed Sons, D.C. Man Claims, The Washington Post, February 18, 2009

Lead Exposure In Children Affects Brain And Behavior, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Related Web Resources:
Childhood Lead Exposure, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

High Lead Levels Found in D.C. Kids, Washington Post, January 27, 2009

In Maryland, there is a new bill that proposes the automatic six-month driver’s license suspension of any underage driver who is convicted of the illegal possession of alcohol. It would also then take the offender six more months than usual to get his or her license back. According to Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pederson, there are studies that indicate that “use and lose” laws compel young drivers to change their behavior so they don’t risk losing their driving privileges.

Another bill addresses the issue of Probation Before Judgment, which lets someone avoid a conviction and accompanying penalty points if he or she fulfills the terms of probation or the required treatment. The proposal would let people arrested and charged with drunk driving to be eligible for probation before a court judgment every 10 years rather than the current every 5 years.

A third bill calls for making it mandatory for Maryland police to ask any driver involved in a catastrophic or fatal auto crash to take a drunk driving test. This information would not be admissible in court but it would allow researchers to determine the role alcohol or drugs play in deadly motor vehicle accidents. Motorists, however, would not be punished for refusing to take the test. Currently, law enforcement officers are supposed to conduct drunk driving tests following serious auto accidents only when they believe a motorist was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

According to Washington Regional Alcohol Program President Kurt Erickson, about 220 people a year died in drunk driving accidents between 2004 and 2007.

Drunk driving is a leading cause of motor vehicle deaths in the United States. The more state and federal governments can do to discourage people from getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs the better.

In the event that you or someone you love was injured by a Maryland drunk driver, you may be entitled to receive personal injury compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, and other losses.

Safety Activists Hopeful About Drunken Driving Bills, Washington Post, February 12, 2009

Maryland Drunk Driving Fines and Penalties

Related Web Resources:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Maryland General Assembly

Continue reading "New Maryland Drunk Driving Bills Focus on Underage Drivers and Repeat Offenders" »

In a deadly Maryland motor vehicle crash that left the vehicle split in two, one Montgomery County high school student is dead and the other has serious injuries. The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon in Rockville.

The driver of the vehicle, 17-year-old Silver Springs resident Johvanny Garmendez, reportedly lost control of the vehicle, which raced down a hill and struck a tree. Garmendez survived the Maryland auto crash with critical injuries. His passenger, 17-year-old Rockville resident Thiago Andrade, was thrown from the 2003 Toyota Camry and pronounced dead at the accident site.

The Camry they were riding in split into two sections after striking a tree. Both parts rolled down the hill separately before landing in an apartment complex parking lot. Another car in the lot was damaged.

Police are trying to determine the cause of the auto crash. According to witnesses, the vehicle was driving at about 45 mph above the speed limit.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2007 Young Drivers (Ages 15 – 20) Traffic Safety Facts

• 6,982 young drivers were involved in auto accidents where there was at least one fatality.
• 3,174 young drivers died in auto accidents.
• 252,000 others were injured.
• 1,631,000 young drivers were involved in auto crashes in which the police became involved.
• 4% of young drivers involved in auto accidents resulting in injuries had been drinking.

Driver distraction, drunk driving, and driver inexperience are just some reasons why young drivers are involved in auto accidents.

According to the Choose Safety for Life Web Site:
• Nearly 20,000 Maryland auto accidents in 2006 involved young drivers.
• That same year, there were 102 auto accidents involving young Maryland drivers that resulted in fatalities.

1 Student Killed, 1 Hurt In Crash That Halved Car, Washington Post, February 2, 2009

Young Drivers, Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA

Young Drivers, Choose Safety for Life

Related Web Resources:
Latest on New Driver Issues, NHTSA

Maryland Teen Drivers, DMV.org

Continue reading "As Maryland Motor Vehicle Collision Splits Car in Half, One Montgomery County Student Dies and The Other Teen is Critically Injured " »

A new peer-reviewed study to be published in the Environmental Science and Technology raises worries that some 42,000 Washington DC kids, now ages 4 to 9, may have been exposed to high levels of lead during the 2001 water crisis. Many of these children were two years of age or in their mothers’ wombs at that time. According to experts, toddlers and fetuses are most at risk of suffering permanent brain damage from lead poisoning.

The study is based on findings from an analysis of thousands of kids’ blood tests from 2000 to 2003. In some DC neighborhoods, the number of infants and toddlers with blood-lead concentrations that could lead to developmental delays and a permanently lowered IQ more than doubled after record breaking levels of lead began entering the city’s tap water supply.

The addition of a new chemical to the water treatment is what caused the increase in lead concentration. In 2003, DC residents were warned about this problem and were advised to use alternative sources of drinking water.

The new study’s results are counter to what federal and DC officials have said since 2004 when they admitted that although the levels of lead in the city’s water were very high, they did not think that this would significantly impact people. Now, public health officials are claiming that they just didn’t have the information at the time to show that there could be a problem.

According to studies, lead poisoning can cause kids to experience a decrease in IQ, as well as exhibit aggressiveness. One reason that babies in the womb and toddlers are highly succepetable to injuries from lead poisoning is that their brains are not yet fully developed. They can also more easily absorb and ingest more toxic metal than older children and adults.

According to FamilyDoctor.org:

• Excessive levels of lead in a child's body can lead to problems with kidneys, brain, or bone marrow.
• Lead poisoning can lead to behavioral problems, attention difficulties, learning problems, and a drop in IQ.

High Lead Levels Found in D.C. Kids, Washington Post, January 27, 2009

Lead Poisoning in Children, FamilyDoctor.org

Related Web Resources:
Environmental Science and Technology

Kids' Pages, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Continue reading "Hundreds of Washington DC Children May Have Been Exposed to High Levels of Lead in City’s Tap Water" »

The family of a 7-year-old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy because of a brain injury he allegedly sustained during his birth will receive a $6.5 million medical malpractice settlement. Roberto Morales Jr. was born at Provena Mercy Medical Center on April 7, 2001.

According to the family’s medical malpractice lawyers, the boy’s attending obstetrician and labor and delivery nurse were negligent when they allegedly failed to respond fast enough to his decreasing heart rate and reduced oxygen flow after his mother was administered the drug Pitocin. Following his birth, Morales was flown to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where he stayed for a month. The medical malpractice defendants were Provena Medical Center, Dreyer Medical Group Ltd, Dreyer Clinic Inc., Advocate Health Care Network, and obstetrician Judson Jones.

Birthing Malpractice
Birthing errors can lead to an infant suffering permanent, debilitating, and costly injuries. If your son or daughter was injured during birth because a doctor, nurse, surgeon, obstetrician, or another medical professional was negligent, you may have grounds to file a birthing malpractice lawsuit.

Also this month, in another birthing malpractice case, a lawsuit was filed against Memorial Hospital, St. Louis University Hospital, and the physician who delivered Haley Overmeyer on January 9, 2005. Haley’s mother, Linda Overmeyer, claims medical errors during delivery are the reason Haley has cerebral palsy.

Linda claims Dr. William Keenan failed to appropriately resuscitate her daughter, ensure that she was correctly intubated, and correctly monitor her condition. Linda also contends that had Keenan provided mother and daughter with the appropriate level of standard medical care, Haley’s disability could have been prevented.

Hundreds of cerebral palsy lawsuits alleging medical malpractice are filed by victims' families every year.

Hospital to Pay $6.5M For Boy's Brain Injury, MSNBC.com, January 15, 2009

Memorial, SLU and doctor sued over child's cerebral palsy, The Record, January 5, 2009

Related Web Resources:

NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Cerebral Palsy, CerebralPalsyInfo.org

This year, the Court of Appeals of Maryland will hear Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc., a lead-paint lawsuit involving serious injuries to a now 13-year-old girl. In 2007, a Baltimore jury issued a Maryland personal injury verdict ordering the family’s landlord to pay the family of Kelly Green $2.3 million. Because of the state’s non-economic damages statutory cap, however, the judge that presided over the premises liability trial lowered the award to $515,000.

The case continues a years-long battle over the legitimacy of Maryland’s cap, which is $710,000 for claims filed after October 1, 2008. Claims filed before then have a non-economic damages cap of $695,000. Also at issue is whether the cap is preventing children who are seriously injured because of exposure to lead paint from recovering more compensation.

For example, in 2006, two children who experienced lead poisoning were awarded $7 million by a jury. Due to the non-economic damages cap, that part was lowered to $700,000. In 2003, a jury awarded two other kids $2.2 million for non-economic damages, which were also reduced because of the Maryland cap.

Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc.
In this latest case, Celestine Green was pregnant with Kelly when she moved into a residence on Montpelier street beginning January 1995. As a young child, Kelly would eat chips of lead paint off her home’s walls.

At 10 months, Kelly’s lead level was already just one unit below the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's “action level” of 10. In December 2006, her lead level readings registered at 12 and 15.

Kelly's family claims that the girl has physical and mental impairments, as well as a decreased IQ, because of her exposure to lead paint. There is also the chance that if she has kids, they could be poisoned by the lead in her body.

Lead Paint Exposure
Exposure to lead paint can lead to serious injuries if the paint is ingested. Kids are not only susceptible to lead paint that can be found on older structures, but high levels of lead were recently discovered in many consumer products, including furniture and toys. Millions of toys and other products with high levels of lead have been recalled to prevent kids from becoming the victims of lead poisoning.

Lead-paint case the latest battleground in war over limit on non-economic damages, Maryland Daily Record, December 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Court of Appeals of Maryland

Lead Poisoning in Children, Family Doctor

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Continue reading "Court of Appeals of Maryland to Hear Lead-Paint Lawsuit" »

A 5-year-old Maryland boy sustained critical injuries after the seat belt he was using got caught around his neck. The incident occurred in Prince George’s County on I-95 at around 6p on Monday evening. The child, DeAndre Harris, is in very serious condition at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC.

A Maryland State Police trooper arrived at the scene after DeAndre’s mother, Yuko Harris, contacted 911. The trooper used a knife to cut the seat belt and administered CPR to DeAndre, who did not have a pulse. His heart started beating again while he was being transported to Laurel Hospital. He was later flow to the District.

Maryland State Police have impounded Harris’s vehicle, a Honda CRV. They do not know how the seat belt became wrapped around the 5-year-old’s neck to cut off his circulation. Although DeAndre is just 5, he was not sitting in a booster seat, which is required for kids under age 8 when riding in motor vehicles.

Seat Belt Injuries
Seat belts are supposed to keep a vehicle occupant securely fastened in the event of an auto crash. While seat belt injuries can occur as a result of user error, there are those injuries that can arise because of a defect in the seat belt’s design or an error that occurred during manufacturing. Such defects can pose a serious injury hazard during a motor vehicle crash and be grounds for a products liability claim or wrongful death lawsuit.

Examples of seat belt defects include:

• Latching defects
• Broken or cracked buckle release buttons
• Too much seat belt slack
• Webbing defects
• Skip lock defects

Seat belts can pose a strangulation hazard if used incorrectly or made defectively.

Boy, 5, is critical after seat belt cuts off breathing, Baltimore Sun, December 16, 2008

Boy, 5, Riding With Family on I-95 Is Critically Injured by Seat Belt, Washington Post, December 7, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Maryland's Child Passenger Safety Laws, Maryland State Highway Administration

Continue reading "Maryland Boy is Almost Strangled to Death by Seat Belt" »

A new study shows that starting the school day a little later may reduce the chances of teen car crashes, personal injuries, and death. A later school start time allows teens to sleep more in the morning, which, researchers say, leads to more alert driving.

By moving the beginning of classes at local high schools by 1 hour from 7:30 am to 8:30 am, researches saw a 16.5% drop in teen auto accident rates.

Psychologist Fred Danner, who coauthored the study, says adolescents are biologically programmed to stay awake an hour later every night. Danner says teens in general need 8-9 hours of sleep. If teens gets an hour less sleep during school nights, by the week’s end, they can be as impaired as if they had stayed awake for 24 hours in a row.

The study surveyed 10,000 kids, in grades 6 through 12, to determine sleep habits, auto accidents, and daytime functioning. Surveys were conducted twice. In 1998, when the school start time was at 7:30am and in 1999, when school would start at 8:30am. The study appears this week in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

According to the National Sleep Foundation:

• Driver fatigue is the cause of 100,000 motor vehicle crashes each year.
• More than 50% of the drivers involved in these crashes are young drivers, ages 16 to 25.
• 85% of teenagers get less than 8 ½ hours of sleep each night.
• Drowsy driving after not having slept for 18 hours is the equivalent of drunk driving with a BAC of .08% or more.
• Not getting enough sleep can impair a person’s ability to make decisions, think clearly, and pay attention. It can also impair one’s reflexes.

A 2006 survey found that 51% of high school students have driven a motor vehicle when they were drowsy. Out of 262 college students that were surveyed, 17% of them admitted to falling asleep while driving.

Later School Start Time Cuts Teens' Car Crash Risks, Washington Post, December 15, 2008

National Sleep Foundation

Related Web Resources:

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

NHTSA

Continue reading "Teen Car Accidents May Be Reduced with Later School Start Time, Says Study" »

Two recent Maryland lawsuits have brought the topic of police brutality to the media forefront. Last week, a judge ruled that teenager Eric Bush can sue the city of Baltimore for Maryland personal injury even though he had missed the deadline for letting the city know he intended to sue. The judge said Bush showed good cause for why his notice that there would be a lawsuit was late.

Bush became a YouTube star after footage of Officer Salvatore Rivieri putting the then-14-year-old skateboarder in a headlock and chastising him for calling the cop "dude" was posted on the popular Web site. The altercation took place in 2007 at the Inner Harbor.

Bush says he never heard Rivieri give him an order about skateboarding. Rivieri, a police veteran, was suspended after the video footage of the incident was brought to the Baltimore police Department’s attention.

In another Maryland police brutality lawsuit, US District Judge William D. Quarles says the wrongful death case involving a man shocked with a Taser by a Frederick County Sheriff’s deputy can move forward against Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and the Frederick County Board of Commissioners.

Jarrel Gray died in November 2007 after he was Tasered by Corporal Rudy Torres, who had arrived at the scene of a fight that the 20-year-old was involved in. The Frederick County deputy reportedly used the weapon to stun Gray twice in 23 seconds. The 20-year-old died several hours after the incident.

Quarles had previously dismissed all defendants from the $145 million Frederick County wrongful death case except for Torres. Following the amended complaint by Grey’s family, however, the judge decided that the claims against the other defendants can also move forward. The civil lawsuit seeks compensation based on several counts, including civil rights violations, wrongful death, police brutality, negligent supervision, and inadequate training.

The use of Tasers has been criticized by civil rights groups for the many times the supposedly non-lethal weapons have been misused, causing injury or death, to their targets.

Police Brutality
Law enforcement officers are forbidden from using unnecessary or excessive force when dealing with suspects or other members of the public. Acts of police brutality can be grounds for a Maryland personal injury claim or wrongful death lawsuit.

Judge OKs Teen's Lawsuit Against Officer, WBALTV.com, December 11, 2008

Judge reinstates Frederick County sheriff and commissioners in Taser lawsuit, Gazette.net, December 12, 2008

Mother 'Furious' After Officer-Teen YouTube Encounter, WBALTV, February 13, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Watch the YouTube Video, Lebowitz & Mzhen, February 14, 2008

Taser

The mother of a six-year-old boy whose right big toe was mangled when his Crocs clog got caught in an escalator at the National Aquarium in Baltimore is suing Crocs Inc. for products liability. Kerry Burdick filed her federal lawsuit in court on Monday. She is seeking over $7.5 million in damages.

The accident occurred last April. Burdick’s lawsuit alleges that Crocs was aware that the popular clogs posed a hazard on escalators yet failed to warn consumers.

This is not the first incident where a person got hurt while using Crocs shoes. Over 200 people around the world have been involved in similar escalator entrapment accidents while using the popular clogs. Children especially appear more prone to injuries while wearing Crocs.

In 2007, a 10-year-old girl hurt her toe after her Crocs clog got stuck on an escalator at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. This year, a 3-year-old Croc wearer had two of her toes partially amputated because of injuries she sustained while also riding an escalator at the Atlanta airport. The parents of another 3-year-old sued Crocs for $7 million after her toe was mangled in an accident at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

In April, Japan’s Trade Ministry asked Crocs Inc. to redesign its popular clogs. The ministry said that over a six-month period last year, it had received 65 complaints of escalator injuries involving Crocs clogs. In May, the US Consumer Products Safety Commission warned that it had received 75 injury reports between January 2006 and May 2007 about people who got hurt in escalator accidents while using Crocs.

Last July, Crocs Inc. said it would add warning tags about possible escalator entrapment-related injuries to its shoes. While the shoes that come with these warnings will become available in 2009, there are still millions of Crocs clogs out in the marketplace for sale or that have already been purchased that lack the entrapment warning.

Son hurt, Pa. woman sues Crocs firm, Baltimore Sun.com, December 4, 2008

Pa. mother sues Crocs over son's escalator injury, Examiner.com, December 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Crocs

Crocs and similar soft shoes linked to escalator entrapments, Consumer Reports, May 20, 2008

Continue reading "Mother Sues Crocs for Personal Injury After Son’s Right Toe is Mangled While Riding Baltimore Aquarium’s Escalator" »

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,670 of the 41,059 traffic fatalities that occurred in the United States in 2007 were child victims, age 14 and younger. 22 of those fatalities occurred in Maryland. 3 of the child traffic deaths occurred in Washington DC.

The National Center for Health Statistics says that auto crashes are the number one cause of death for children ages 8 to 14 and 3 to 6. Last year, 385 child vehicle occupants, age 4 and under, died in motor vehicle crashes.

More 2007 NHTSA Traffic Accident Statistics About Children, Age 14 and Under:

• 245 of the 1,670 child motor vehicle deaths involved at least one drunk driver.
• 130 of the 245 children that died in drunk driving accidents were riding with a drunk driver.
• Children, age 14 and under, made up 306 of the 4,654 pedestrian deaths last year.
• Drunk drivers killed 29 of these child pedestrians.
• 14,000 child pedestrians sustained injuries in traffic accidents.
• Young pedestrians were most likely to sustain fatal injuries between 4 and 8pm and noon and 4pm.
• 80% of pedestrian deaths involving this age group took place at non-intersections.
• 91 child pedalcyclists died last year.
• 10,000 child pedalcyclists were injured in motor vehicle crashes.
• Each day last year, 5 children in this age group were killed in traffic accidents, with 548 others injured.

Children are prone to catastrophic injuries anytime they are involved in a serious auto collision. While there are steps that parents can take to protect their young children from the impact of colliding with a motor vehicle—whether as an auto occupant, a pedestrian, or a pedalcyclist—accidents caused by negligent drivers or because an auto manufacturer designed a defective car or motor vehicle part do happen.

Children, 2007 Data Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:

Preventing Injuries to Children in Motor Vehicle Crashes, Safe Kids Worldwide

Kids and Cars.org

Continue reading "NHTSA Reports That 22 Children, Age 14 and Under, Died in Maryland Traffic Fatalities in 2007" »

Importer Bayside Furnishings and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of approximately 9,350 Pirates of the Caribbean Twin Trundle Beds and LaJolla Boat Beds because of concerns that the toy chests pose an entrapment or strangulation hazard to kids.

There is concern that the toy chest lid supports do not stop the chest lid from shutting too fast. The CPSC says that they have received reports of one incident in which a boy, 22-months, was strangled to death after the toy chest lid fell on the back of his head and his neck became trapped.

This is not the first time toy chests have been recalled over entrapment/suffocation worries. One child suffocated while in a toy chest three years ago. In separate incidents in 2001, another child fell while another child suffocated. Both children died from their injuries.

At least 10 other toy chest recalls have taken place over the last 10 years. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that since 1975, there have been at least 45 reported deaths. At least three children that were injured injured in toy chest-related accidents suffered brain damage. The majority of injury victims are younger than 2 years of age.

Common toy chest-related accidents:

• The chest falls on a child’s hands or neck.
• Suffocation, from children climbing into or get trapped in the toy chest.

Manufacturers of toys and other children’s products are supposed to design and make products that are safe for use. If your son or daughter was injured because of a product defect, you may be able to file a products liability claim or lawsuit to obtain compensation for his or her personal injuries.

Toy Boxes and Toy Chests, CPSC.gov

Bayside Furnishings Recalls Youth Bed Toy Chests Sold at Costco After the Death of a 22-Month-Old Child, CPSC.gov, July 3, 2008

Toy Chests are Not Toys, Washington Post, July 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:

NNCS Toy Safety

Kids in Danger

Continue reading "Bed and Toy Chest Sets Recalled May Pose an Entrapment Hazard to Kids" »

In a South Laurel neighborhood in Prince George County, Maryland, residents are renewing their efforts to get officials to install speed bumps after a 7-year-old bicyclist was hit by a speeding motor vehicle earlier this month. The boy sustained serious head trauma.

According to the Montgomery County, Maryland Web site, 214 people died in speeding-related accidents in 2005—accounting for 35% of all Maryland motor vehicle deaths. That same year, 85% of all speeding-related deaths in the United States occurred roads other than US highways.

Residents say that this injury incident is just one more example of why measures need to be taken to slow down speeding drivers. They want speed bumps installed close to the residential areas—especially because so many pedestrians are students going to and from school. In some areas where there is heavy student traffic, there are no sidewalks to keep kids safe.

Briarwood Civic Association President Katrina Meza says that her efforts to have speed bumps installed have been rejected by the Department of Public Works and Transportation.

A Public Works department spokesperson says that a 2004 survey found that no speed bumps are necessary even after taking into consideration the amount of pedestrian traffic, the general speed of traffic, rush hours, and the hours of student commute.

If you or someone you love was seriously hurt in a Maryland injury accident, do not hesitate to contact our personal injury law firm right away. We can prove if a driver, a property owner, your municipal or state government, a doctor, a nursing home, a product manufacturer, or anyone else was negligent and could have prevented the injury accident from happening.

Accident revives push to slow speeding cars, Laurel Leader, May 22, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Speeding Facts

Speed Bumps

Continue reading "Prince George County Residents Calling for Speed Bumps After Car Hits Child Bicyclist " »

An 11-month girl was injured after she was struck by a van that collided with an MTA light rail train on Thursday in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland. She was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital’s pediatric center.

The driver of the van was a U.S. Naval Academy midshipman. He also was taken to a local hospital but did not sustain any serious injuries. Several light rail passengers are reporting injuries from the accident.

The motor vehicle collision occurred early in the morning. The van reportedly ran a red light and was struck by the MTA light rail train. The force of the collision caused the van to spin onto the sidewalk and strike the stroller with the toddler in it.

If you believe that someone you love was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, you should contact our Maryland personal injury law firm right away. Our motor vehicle accident attorneys also handle cases involving injuries to minors.

Running a Red Light
Running a red light is a commonly occurring traffic violation that can lead to serious injuries for other drivers and pedestrians and cause serious property damage to motor vehicles involved in any related collisions.

According to the NHTSA, there were over 3,500 traffic accidents in Maryland involving red light violations in 1995—resulting in 34 fatalities and 4,256 injuries. Maryland is one of a handful of U.S. states that use red-light cameras in a few areas—including Montgomery and Prince George’s counties—in an effort to prevent people from running red lights.

Types of Accidents from Running a Red Light, include:
• Colliding with cars coming from the left or ride side of the driver’s path that now have green light authorization to move forward.
• Striking a pedestrian.

Rail commute delayed, several injured in downtown collision, Baltimore Sun, March 20, 2008

Red Light Violations in Maryland, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:

D.C. Red-Light Cameras Fail to Reduce Accidents, Washington Post, October 4, 2005

Red Light Running, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Continue reading "1 Toddler and Several Others Injured When MTA Train and Van Collide in Baltimore, Maryland" »

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a report that states the number of infant deaths (children under age 5) involving nursery products have increased significantly.

According to the CPSC, 66,400 children were seriously hurt in nurseries in 2006. The number of infant injuries involving nursery products in 200t was 59,800.

The report did not take into account injuries in 2007 when more than one million Simplicity bassinets and cribs were recalled. At least 4 infants died because of the defective infant beds. The Chicago Tribune conducted an investigation that found that CPSC and Simplicity had known that defective infant crib parts and improper installation could lead to suffocation, even death.

The CPSC report cited a number of Infant products associated with infant injuries, including:

• Cribs
• Bassinets
• Strollers
• Infant carriers
• Car seats
• High chairs
• Walkers

Sometimes the cause of the injuries has been a defective product or product failure. Falls were also a leading cause of injuries. 42% of the injuries sustained by infants were head injuries.

Toys have also come under fire as a cause of serious injuries or deaths affecting children of all ages. Last year, 25 million toys were recalled because of defective product concerns.

In the event that your child was injured because of a defective product, the instructions that came with the product was incomplete or unclear, or the product did not come with a failure to warn of potential injuries or hazards, one of our Maryland or Washington D.C. lawyers would be happy to discuss your case during a free consultation.

Nursery-related product injuries on the rise, CNNMoney.com, February 28, 2008

Infant Deaths in the Nursery Increasing, Consumer Affairs, February 28, 2008

Nursery Product Injuries Sending More Children to the ER, NewsInferno.com, February 29, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Infants & Children, Recall-Warnings

Continue reading "Consumer Product Safety Commission Reports Increase In Nursery Products-Related Infant Deaths" »

Police in Maryland are reminding drivers to “exercise caution, especially when children are involved… while driving anywhere near a school bus.” The warning comes in the wake of the new school year and efforts by state and local law enforcement departments to make this school year a safe one with zero injury accidents and wrongful deaths.

Police will be watching for drivers that are not paying attention when driving close to school bus stops. In Annapolis, drivers stopping in school traffic safety zones during the next five days will get a warning. Afterwards, they will receive citations.

Annapolis will also set up radar-speed display boards in school traffic zones. Police officers will stop any driver caught speeding. Stopping at pedestrian crosswalks will also be enforced, as will the use of seatbelts and child car seats. County officers will patrol school zones in cars during times when school buses are in operation.

Maryland’s Penalties for the Following Violations by Motor Vehicle Drivers:

• Failing to stop for a school vehicle: 3 points to the driver’s license and a $570 fine

• Causing an accident because of failure to stop for a school vehicle: a $610 penalty and three points to the driver’s license.

• Failing to stop for a pedestrian at a crosswalk: $80 fine

• Failing to exercise caution when children are around: $70 fine

Statistics show that from 1991-2001, about 26 children died in school bus accidents. 19 of the 26 fatalities were children that had gotten off or were getting on a bus. Half of the student pedestrians were between the ages of 5 and 7.

There were 1,479 school bus accidents that occurred over this same period. 68% of these accidents involved drivers of other motor vehicles.

Losing a child in a school bus-related accident can be very devastating for the family. It can also be very traumatic for a child to sustain serious injuries in a school bus accident, and the psychological and emotional ramification can be long term.

If your child has been seriously injured or killed in a school bus accident because the bus driver or another driver was negligent, you might have grounds to file a personal injury or a wrongful death claim or lawsuit.

Bus safety high on police radar, Hometownannapolis.com, August 20, 2007

School Bus Accident, Online Lawyer Source

Related Web Resources:

Traffic Safety, NHTSA

Back to School Safety, NSC.org

Continue reading "Maryland State Police Warn Drivers to Exercise Caution When Near School Buses" »

Colin Matthew Cunningham, a 5-year-old boy, died on Saturday after being struck by a car. The Stevensville boy was running after a group of teenagers when he ran in front of a Jeep Wrangler on Whispering Woods Drive in a townhouse community in Annapolis.

According to police, seven teenagers had crossed the street to play football in a nearby open area. Colin ran after them. After the accident, he was taken to Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital and later declared dead.

The 18-year-old driver of the Jeep had her 16-year-old neighbor and 14-year-old sister in the car with her. She stopped right after hitting the Colin.

Authorities say that the alcohol did not play a part in the car accident, but they would investigate whether she had been speeding.

Statistically, children—especially boys 5 to 9 years of age—are at great risk of being hit by a motor vehicle in a pedestrian accident. Many pedestrian accidents involving young children take place close to their homes, and pedestrian fatalities is one of the leading causes of injury and death for children.

Children frequently don’t have a great sense of danger. They also are not easily able to judge how fast an oncoming car is going. They also can be very impulsive and may run into the street without looking to see if a car is coming.

Saferoutesinfo.org offers a number of safety tips for children that are old enough to cross the street without adult supervision, including:

• Choose the route with the fewest streets to cross.
• Avoid crossing busy or high-speed streets.
• Be more visible to drivers by wearing bright clothing in the daytime.
• Always look for motor vehicles.
• Do not cross behind or within 10 feet of the front of a bus or other large motor vehicle because the driver can not see this area.
• Stop at the edges of driveways and curbs or edges of the street where no curb exists and look for motor vehicles before proceeding.
• Watch for parked motor vehicles that may be getting ready to back up or pull forward.
• Walk, don't run, across the street.
• If crossing the street at an intersection:
o Obey traffic signs and signals.
o When the signal indicates it is time to cross, check for motor vehicles. Drivers may not obey the rules and turning drivers may not look for pedestrians.
• Look to see if motor vehicles are coming.

Although children need to be careful when crossing the street, it is still the responsibility of car drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, and motorcycle riders to exercise extreme caution when operating their motor vehicles.

If your child has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident because a driver acted negligently by speeding, driving under the influence of drugs, or for any other reason, your child and your family are entitled to recovery compensation for pain, injuries, suffering, and other related losses.

Stevensville boy, 5, dies after being hit by car, Baltimoresun.com, August 20, 2007

Key Messages For Children, Saferoutesinfo.org

Pedestrian safety for kids and parents, Safety and Consumer Protection

Related Web Resources:

National Strategies for Advancing Child Pedestrian Safety, Federal Highway Administration

Pedestrian Injuries to Young Children

Continue reading "5-Year-Old Stevensville Boy Dies After Being Struck by Car in Anne Arundel County, Maryland" »

The King George, Virginia woman who is accused of hitting four children that were waiting for a school bus in La Plata, Maryland on Tuesday, and then fleeing the accident scene, has been released on $50,000 bond after being charged with failing to stop after an injury accident and DWI (driving while impaired).

Two of the children, boys ages 4 and 10, were seriously injured and were being treated at the Children’s Hospital in the District. A 9-year-old, who was treated at La Plata hospital, has been released. A 17-year-old had also been injured.

Jacqueline Simmonds, 29, was driving toward a methadone clinic when her car went off the road and onto the sidewalk, hitting a group of children who were waiting for their bus at the stop on Glen Albin Road. She didn’t stop her vehicle and instead, kept driving, ran into a stop sign, and stopped 20 minutes later. She failed two sobriety tests.

Simmonds has previous hit and & run and DUI convictions and is currently fighting an addiction to methadone.

In Charles County, parents are calling for greater safety measures at the stop where the accident took place. They are planning to start a petition drive requesting the hiring of a crossing guard, the installation of speed bumps, and the relocation of the bus stop to an area where there is less traffic. This is the second accident at the Glen Albin Road school stop in the last 9 months. A car struck a child who was crossing the street last September.

Injuries to Minors
Children under 18 years of age who have been seriously injured in an accident can only file a lawsuit with the help of a parent, guardian, or another adult.

Serious injuries to minors can be life altering and extremely traumatic. In addition to injuries resulting from a motor vehicle-related accident, common personal injury accidents where minors are injured include:

• Playground accidents
• Amusement part accidents
• Swimming accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Swallowing cough medicine or cleaning substances
• Pedestrian injuries
• Falls

Continue reading "Woman Accused Of Hitting Four School Children In Hit-And-Run Accident In La Plata, Maryland Is Released On Bond" »

A new study recently released by Safe Kids Worldwide says that Maryland is number 12 out of all 50 states and D.C. in a new ranking report of children’s unintentional injury deaths during the summer. The report is called The Safe Kids U.S. Summer Safety Ranking Report.

Maryland’s unintentional injury-related death rate over a five year period was 2.42 children/100,000 kids. The summer season is known as “trauma season” to emergency personnel, since the number of serious injuries and preventable deaths involving children rises drastically during this time.

Vermont, ranked in the report as the number one state, leads the country with 1.63 children for every 100,000 children dying in an unintentional incident during the summertime. New Jersey was # 2 in the rankings. D.C. ranked #3, New York is #4, and Delaware is #5.

According to the report, 17 children a day (2,143 total) died from May –August 2004 because of preventable injuries. 2.4 million children ended up in the emergency room because of unintentional injuries, with many of these injuries resulting in paralysis, brain damage, and other major disabilities.

In another Safe Kids Worldwide study, the five most common causes of children’s injury deaths that can be prevented include:

-- Drowning (increases 89 percent in the summer over the annual monthly
average)
-- Biking (increases 45 percent)
-- Falls (increases 21 percent)
-- Motor vehicle passenger injuries (increases 20 percent)
-- Pedestrian injuries (increases 16 percent)

If your child has been seriously injured or killed because of another’s negligence, it is important that you speak to a personal injury lawyer right away.

Continue reading "Safe Kids Worldwide Says Maryland is Number 12 in State Rankings of Unintentional Child Injuries and Deaths During Summers" »

A $10,000 reward is being offered by the Metropolitan Police Department for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver of a green SUV that struck and killed six-year-old Crysta Marie Spencer as she crossed 6th Street, NE, near Orleans Place on Monday. Witnesses say Spencer was knocked out of her shoes and thrown into the air after being hit. The driver then ran over her.

Stop signs and a temporary speed bump have been installed at the intersection where she died.

On Wednesday, the District Department of Transportation and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association launched the “Pace Car Program.” Drivers joining the program sign a written pledge to drive at the speed limit, which is 25 mph in most of the District.

According to Jim Sebastian, a DDOT coordinator, a victim struck be a motor vehicle has a greater chance of survival that if the vehicle had been moving at 25 mph instead of 40.

Some statistics and facts regarding injuries related to child pedestrians:

* In 2002, 599 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries.

* Of these, 460 died in motor vehicle-related traffic crashes.

* The majority of child pedestrian deaths and injuries are traffic-related. Although pedestrian injuries are not as common as motor vehicle occupant injuries, a disproportionate number of the injuries sustained by child pedestrians are severe.

* Children ages 14 and under are more likely to suffer pedestrian injuries in areas with high traffic volume, a higher number of parked vehicles on the street, higher posted speed limits, no divided highways, few pedestrian-control devices and few alternative play areas.

* Child pedestrian injuries occur more often in residential areas and on local roads that are straight, paved, and dry.

Enforcement of traffic laws, including apprehension of hit-and-run drivers, is effective in reducing traffic-related pedestrian death and injury.

Continue reading "Six-Year-Old Girl In Hit-and-Run Accident Becomes 10th Pedestrian Fatality in D.C. for 2007" »

The AAA recently released driving suggestions for teen drivers who may not be used to driving in snow conditions. Here are some of the tips:

· Supervise your teen driver while he or she practices driving in snow or ice; let your teenager practice steering and hard breaking in skidding conditions
· Think about letting your teen driver only drive during daylight hours where they can see the weather and road conditions more clearly
· Try to avoid letting your teen driver’s first experience driving in winter weather be during a big snowstorm
· Remind your teen driver that drinking while driving will only make driving in winter conditions even more dangerous
· Ensure that your teenager’s motor vehicle has emergency equipment, such as a flashlight, cell phone, jumper cables, and an ice scraper.

Here are a few teen driver fatality statistics:

· Teen drivers make up 14% of all motor vehicle-related deaths
· 45% of the time that a teen driver was killed in a car accident, he or she was driving with another teenager in the car
· 1/3 of teen driver fatalities are speeding-related

Common causes of accidents when teen drivers are at the wheel:

· Not paying attention to the roads or weather conditions
· Driving too fast
· Not wearing a safety belt
· Tiredness
· Driving with other teenagers

Continue reading "AAA Mid-Atlantic Offers Teen Drivers Tips On How To Drive In Winter Conditions" »

Federal officials in the U.S. say that bus drivers who use cell phones while driving may be partially to blame for the 17,000 school children that sustain injuries from school bus accidents each year. In an undercover news report by ABC News and Good Morning America, the reporting team got on school buses to observe a number of bus drivers. Over four days, the news team reported seeing 17 bus drivers dialing their cell phone while driving with school children on the bus. Two bus drivers reportedly stopped using the phone when they saw that a news camera crew was shooting them.

Examples of school bus accidents involving cell phone-using bus drivers:

· A bus driver in Prince Georges County, Maryland lost control of the bus while talking on his cell phone. 30 students were hospitalized.
· An 8-year-old girl lost her right forearm. The bus driver was talking on his cell phone when the accident occurred.

The Governors Highway Safety Association says that all states should make it illegal for bus drivers to use their cell phone when they have passengers riding their bus.

Only the District of Columbia and 11 U.S. states ban cell phone use while driving a bus:

· Arizona
· Arkansas
· California
· Connecticut
· Delaware
· Illinois
· Massachusetts
· New Jersey
· Rhode Island
· Tennessee
· Texas
· DC

The Official Journal Of American Academy of Pediatrics Offers The Following Statistics Regarding School Bus-Related Injuries For Teenagers And Children:

· There were an estimated 51100 school bus–related injuries treated in US emergency departments from 2001 to 2003, for a national estimate of 17000 injuries.
· Ninety-seven percent of children were treated and released from the hospital.
· Children 10 to 14 years of age accounted for the greatest proportion of injuries.
· Motor vehicle crashes accounted for 42.3% of all injuries, followed by injuries that occurred as the child was boarding/alighting/approaching the bus (23.8%). Head injuries accounted for more than half (52.1%) of all injuries among children.
· Strains and sprains accounted for the highest percentage of all injuries, followed by contusions and abrasions (28.3%) and lacerations (14.9%).
· More than three quarters (77.7%) of lacerations were to the head.

Continue reading "Maryland Bus Driver Using Cell Phone Among The Accidents Cited Where Driving And Dialing Have Led To Injuries" »

The 41-year-old-woman who was arrested for hitting a toddler and his grandmother with her truck and then dragging the toddler in his stroller under her pickup truck for almost a mile as she left the scene has been indicted for auto manslaughter.

Lazara Arellano de Hogue faces two felony counts of failing to stop her vehicle at the scene of a deadly accident, two charges of vehicular manslaughter, negligent and reckless driving, failing to render aid, and failing to avoid collision with a pedestrian. If convicted for vehicular manslaughter or felony hit-and-run, she could face up to 10 years in prison for each conviction.

The toddler, 3-year-old Elijah Cozart, died as a result of the accident, while his grandmother, Marjorie Thomas, was seriously injured and treated at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Thomas is healing slowly and using a walker.

Released since December on $250,000 bail, Arellano de Hogue now is back in police custody. Bail has been set to $2 million.

According to a recent USA Today analysis, the number of people killed in hit and run accidents has grown 20% since 2000.

In 2005, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 974 of the 4881 pedestrians who were killed were victims of hit and run accidents.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, nearly 11% of all police-reported vehicle-related accidents involve hit and run, and pedestrians make up 60% of people killed in hit and run accidents.

The AAA Foundation says that their analysis of General Estimates System databases and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System found that 14,914 people died from hit and run accidents between 1994 and 2003.

The Foundation offers the following tips to help keep pedestrians safe around traffic:

-Obey traffic signals
-Look left, then right, then left again before crossing the street even when in a crosswalk
-Watch for turning vehicles when crossing
-Remain alert and aware of cars as they approach and pass you
-Do not assume drivers see you because you see them
-When sidewalks are not present, walk as far away from the roadway as possible
-If walking at night wear retro reflective and light-colored clothing

Continue reading "More Charges Added In Hit And Run Dragging Death Of Toddler In Baltimore County" »

A Towson, Maryland district court judge has reduced the bail of the woman charged in the hit-and-run dragging death of three-year-old Elijah Cozart in Baltimore County to $250,000. Cozart’s grandmother had been pushing him in a stroller across Goucher Boulevard when a 1999 Dodge Ram pickup truck, driven by Lazara Arellano de Hogue, struck Cozart, and his grandmother, Marjorie Thomas, 55 as they were crossing the street. The pickup truck continued down the road, dragging the boy underneath it for nearly 3/4ths of a mile before he tumbled free. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Thomas is still in the hospital.

Arellano de Hogue, who was arrested on Castle Drive at a home that she shares with her boyfriend, was held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $2 million bail over the weekend. She claims that she didn’t know she had hit the toddler—only the grandmother, whom she claims she had swerved to avoid.

According to police, however, Arellano de Hogue was seen getting out of the vehicle, pulling the stroller out from under the pickup truck, and driving away.

USA Safekids.org says that:

· In 2002, 599 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries.

· Of these, 460 died in motor vehicle-related traffic crashes.

· In 2003, nearly 38,400 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries.

· In 2002, 599 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries.

· Of these, 460 died in motor vehicle-related traffic crashes.

· In 2003, nearly 38,400 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries.

· Children ages 14 and under are more likely to suffer pedestrian injuries in areas with high traffic volume, a higher number of parked vehicles on the street, higher posted speed limits, no divided highways, few pedestrian-control devices, and few alternative play areas.

· Child pedestrian injuries occur more often in residential areas and on local roads that are straight, paved, and dry.

· Children ages 4 and under are at the greatest risk from child pedestrian death.

· In 2002, children ages 4 and under accounted for more than 40 percent of pedestrian injury-related deaths.

· Nearly 10 percent of all child pedestrian-related injuries occur in driveways.

· Children ages 4 and under account for 80 percent of these driveway-related pedestrian injuries.

· Toddlers (ages 1 to 2) sustain the highest number of pedestrian injuries.

· More than half of all toddler pedestrian injuries occur when a vehicle is backing up.

· Children from birth to age 2 are also more likely to suffer pedestrian injuries in parking lots and on sidewalks.

· Nearly two-thirds of child pedestrian deaths are among males.

· African-American children have a pedestrian injury death rate almost twice that of white children.

Continue reading "In Hit-And-Run Dragging Death Of 3-Year-Old Maryland Boy, Woman Could Face 5 Years In Prison" »

A number of Calvert County organizations have teamed together to bring Southern Maryland young drivers the Drive 2 Survive training program. The Drive 2 Survive course will focus on giving teen drivers the “real world skills” to deal with unexpected situations they might experience on the road.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says:

· Teenagers are just 7% of all drivers.
· Teen drivers are responsible for 20% of all vehicle-related collisions.
· Young drivers are responsible for 14% of all vehicle-related deaths.

According to the program’s founders, Drive 2 Survive goes beyond basic driver’s education and is an advanced safety and collision avoidance training course.

Enrolling in the program costs $200 and is open to any teenager living in the tri-county, southern Maryland area who has a learner’s permit and has taken Maryland’s mandated classroom and in-car training. You can click on the link below to register and find out more information.

The Maryland Rookie Driver Program is a graduated licensing program that allows teen drivers to build their skills before earning their driver’s license.

1) The learner’s permit lets a new driver drive while accompanied by a supervised adult driver.
2) After completing the driver education course, driving with an adult for a minimum of 60 hours, and passing a skills test, a teen driver is given a provisional license. The teen driver must be at least 16 years and 3 months old.
3) In order to earn their full license, the driver must be at least 17 years and 9 months old and have held a provisional license for at least 18 months (conviction free).

The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association provides the following teen driving statistics on their website:

· Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
· 16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
· It is estimated that 16-year-olds are 3 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than adult drivers.
· 3,657 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2003, making up 14% of all driver involved in fatal crashes and 18% of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes (NHTSA).
· 25% of teen drivers killed in 2003 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or greater. A BAC of .08 is the level which all states use to define drunk driving.
· $40.8 billion was the estimated economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers in 2002 (NHTSA).
· Inexperience behind the wheel is the leading cause of teenage crashes.
· In 2001, two thirds of teens killed in auto accidents were not wearing seat belts.
· Almost half of the crash deaths involving 16-year-old drivers in 2003 occurred when beginner drivers were driving with teen passengers (IIHS).
· Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).
· Graduated drivers license programs appear to be making a difference. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that the overall number of 16-year-old drivers fell from 1,084 in 1993 to 938 in 2003 despite an 18% increase in the 16-year-old population.

Continue reading "Through Drive 2 Survive Program, Southern Maryland Teenagers Will Get Crash Course In Advanced Safety and Collision Avoidance Training" »

In Smithsburg, Maryland two children were seriously injured this week in a car accident at the intersection of Smithsburg Leitersburg Road and Rowe Road.

Audrey Marie Partlow, 41, was driving the car that the children, along with another juvenile passenger, were riding in when their vehicle collided with another vehicle, driven by Douglas Allen McCall II, 34.

Partlow, McCall, and the three juveniles, a 5-year-old, a 10-year-old, and an 8-year old were treated at Washington County Hospital.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says that vehicle-related accidents are the number one cause of accidental, injury-related deaths, and children who are not wearing a safety belt or seated in a car seat are more likely to become injured or die in a car accident.

According to Safekids.org, if you are with a child who has been injured in an auto accident, it is important to call an ambulance if you notice that:

-The child is or has been unconscious.
- The child has vomited or seems drowsy after an accident.
- The child is having trouble breathing.
- You cannot stop the bleeding from a cut.
- The child is in severe pain.
- The child is bleeding from an ear.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration offers the following safety tips for riding in cars with children:

· Everybody needs a child safety seat, booster seat, or safety belt.
· There must be one safety belt for each person. Buckling two people, even children, into one belt could injure both.
· People who are not buckled up can be thrown from the car or around inside the car and seriously hurt themselves or others.
· Never hold a child on your lap. You could crush him/her in a crash, or the child may be torn from your arms.
· Never ride in the cargo area of a station wagon, van, or pickup. Anyone riding in the cargo area could be thrown out and severely injured or killed.
· No one seat is 'best.' The 'best' child safety seat is the one that fits your child and can be installed correctly.
· Children age 12 and under should ride properly restrained in the back.

The law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles personal injury cases in the Maryland and Washington D.C. areas. Among the areas we cover are injuries as a result of car accidents and injuries that occur to minors due to someone else’s negligence. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.

Children Injured In Smithsburg Crash, Herald-Mail Online.com

Transportation Safety Tips For Children, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration

Safety Statistics, Kidsread.net

Child Accident Prevention, medic8.com

Related Web Resources:

Staying Safe In The Car and On The Bus, Kidshealth.org

The Facts about Road Accidents and Children

Crash data from a new AAA Mid-Atlantic report says that licensed, underaged drivers, ages 16-17, are just as likely to get into deadly car crashes from Monday through Friday between 3 and 5 p.m. as they are between 9 p.m. 2 a.m on weekend nights.

Data shows that between 2002 and 2005:

· 1,100 underaged, teen drivers were killed in the hours right after school.

· 1,237 were killed during the weekends.

AAA Mid-Atlantic is urging parents to be just as vigilant when monitoring their teen drivers after school as they are on the weekends. Maryland and 43 either states have already imposed driving limits for licensed teen drivers who are forbidden to drive between 12 and 5 A.M. unless they are accompanied by a guardian or parent or driving for work-related reasons.

The University of Maryland’s Deparment of Public Community and Health offers a number of tips for parents with underaged teen drivers, including:
.
· Teach by example. Be a courteous and careful driver.
· Teach your teen defensive driving-to look ahead to anticipate problems and be prepared to react.
· Use the Maryland Parent-Teen Driving Agreement with your newly licensed teen to set up specific driving rules and consequences.
· Restrict your teen from driving under high-risk conditions, such as driving at night and with teen passengers, and consider delaying the age your teen gets a license.
· Tell your teen to keep his or her cool with aggressive or angry drivers.
· Insist that teens and their passengers always wear their seat belts.
· Tell your teen when they drive that they are responsible for their passengers and must make them buckle up.
· Tell your teen that they will be responsible for paying the fines if they are caught not wearing their seat belt by a police officer.
· Discuss further consequences such as loss of driving privileges if your teen is caught not wearing a seat belt.
· Prohibit or strictly limit the number of teen passengers.
· Take the time to accompany your teen to a new location before he or she has to drive somewhere new on his or her own.
· Talk to your teen about the dangers of outside distractions and "rubber-necking."
· Don't allow your teen to drive if he or she is emotionally upset.
·
Maryland’s graduating licensing program, known as the Rookie Driver, allows new teen drivers and any new driver (regardless of age) to progress through three stages. They must meet numerous requirements before being awarded a full driver’s license:

1. Permit: A learner's permit allows a new driver to begin the learning process of operating a motor vehicle.

2. Provisional License: After gaining experience driving with a learner's permit for 6 months, maintaining a conviction-free driving record and completing a standardized driver education course, new drivers are eligible for a provisional license.

3. Driver's License: The State of Maryland's full driver's license is a privilege awarded to drivers who progress through the Rookie Driver graduated licensing system.

Maryland Teen Driving Statistics:

· In Maryland, the number of motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers, per 10,000 licensed teen drivers, has been on the rise since 1996 (NSC, 2003, p.10).
· On average, during the period from 1996-2000, more than 1 out of every 10 licensed Maryland teen drivers was involved in a motor vehicle crash (NSC, 2003, p.10).
· During an 11-month period, from summer 2001 to summer 2002, ten teenagers died in automobile accidents in Southern Maryland. The drivers of these automobiles were all 15 to 18 years of age. (Sheinin, 2003, p. DO1) .
· In 2001, 21,188 young drivers were involved in reported traffic crashes in Maryland (NSC, 2001, chap. 4, p.1).

The personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen represents people who have been injured due to the negligence of another driver. They also represent the families of those who have been killed due to someone else’s negligence in a vehicle-related accident. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.

Afterschool Hours Are Prime For Teen Accidents, WJZ.com, October 25, 2006.

Rookie Driver, Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration

Teen Driver Statistics, Parents of Young Drivers.com

Related Web Resources:
AAA Mid-Atlantic

Teen Driving

Family Guide To Teen Driver Safety, NSC.org

In Maryland last week, attorneys for both sides in the wrongful death suit of Baby Caleb rested their cases. Caleb Taylor's obstetrician, Dr. Jason Evans, is accused of negligence during the baby's delivery in 2004. The prosecution claims that Dr. Evans waited too long before performing a c-section on Caleb's mother Casey. A jury will be asked to determine the amount of compensation for the suffering and loss caused by Caleb's death. He was born with severe complications and died nine days after his birth. The defense claims that Evans could not perform the c-section until the anesthesiologist arrived at the hospital.

The state of Maryland has a wrongful death cap of $885,000.

A birth injury or trauma is an injury that happens to a baby during birth. A delay in delivery of a baby can cause profound injury to a child due to oxygen deprivation. These injuries include damage to the brain, cerebral palsy, erbs palsy, and other physical and neurological injuries.

Other common birth injuries:

· Caput Succedaneum:
Caput is a severe swelling of the soft tissues of the baby's scalp that develops as the baby travels through the birth canal. Some babies have some bruising of the area. The swelling usually disappears in a few days without problems. Babies delivered by vacuum extraction are more likely to have this condition.

· Cephalohematoma:
Cephalohematoma is an area of bleeding between the bone and its fibrous covering. It often appears several hours after birth as a raised lump on the baby's head.

· Bruising/Forceps Marks:
Some babies may show signs of bruising on the face or head simply as a result of the trauma of passing though the birth canal and contact with the mother's pelvic bones and tissues. Forceps used with delivery can leave temporary marks or bruises on the baby's face and head. Babies delivered by vacuum extraction may have some scalp bruising or a scalp laceration (cut).

· Subconjunctival Hemorrhage:
Subconjunctival hemorrhage is the breakage of small blood vessels in the eyes of a baby. One or both of the eyes may have a bright red band around the iris. This is very common and does not cause damage to the eyes. The redness is usually absorbed in a week to ten days.

· Facial Paralysis:
During labor or birth, pressure on a baby's face may cause the facial nerve to be injured. This may also occur with the use of forceps for delivery. The injury is often seen when the baby cries. There is no movement on the side of the face with the injury and the eye cannot be closed. If the nerve was only bruised, the paralysis usually improves in a few weeks. If the nerve was torn, surgery may be needed.

· Brachial Palsy:
Brachial palsy occurs when the brachial plexus (the group of nerves that supplies the arms and hands) is injured. It is most common when there is difficulty delivering the baby's shoulder, called shoulder dystocia. The baby loses the ability to flex and rotate the arm. Many cases of brachial palsy resolve spontaneously in 24 hours or less and splints or therapy are not necessary in these cases. If the injury caused bruising and swelling around the nerves, movement should return within a few months. Tearing of the nerve may result in permanent nerve damage.

· Fractures:
Fracture of the clavicle or collarbone is the most common fracture during labor and delivery. The clavicle may break when there is difficulty delivering the baby's shoulder or during a breech delivery. The baby with a fractured clavicle rarely moves the arm on the side of the break. However, healing occurs quickly. As new bone forms, a firm lump on the clavicle often develops in the first 10 days. If the fracture is painful, limiting movement of the arm and shoulder with a soft bandage or splint may be helpful.

The personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen represents clients in the Maryland and Washington D.C. areas that have lost a loved one due to the negligent conduct or behavior of another person and wish to file a wrongful death suit. The firm also has a successful record of handling birth injury cases that arise as a result of an obstetrician’s improper delivery of a newborn. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for more information.

Baby Caleb's Wrongful Death Suit Leads To Jury, Wmdt.com, October 26, 2006

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Continues For Second Day, Wmdt.com, October 24, 2006

Wrongful Death Caps, Hurt911.0rg

Birth Injury, Lucy Packard Children's Hospital

Related Web Resource:

Statistics About Birth Injury, Wrongdiagnosis.com

Last week, nine school kids were treated and released at the Carroll Hospital Center in Sykesville, Maryland, after their school bus and a 1992 Buick collided with one another near Linton Springs Elementary School. The bus had been 100 yards away from the unloading zone at the elementary school when the Buick pulled out in front of the bus from a side parking lot. About 50 school kids were on the bus at the time of the accident.

· There are 585,000 school buses in the U.S.
· 20 students are killed in bus accidents each year (5 while on the bus and 15 are run while getting off or on buses).
· 6000 students are injured in bus-related accidents each year.

Federal law mandates that small school buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds carry seat belts. Large buses weighing at least 25,000 pounds are not required to have seat belts.

According to a 2002 study on school bus safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

· Safety lap bets can increase the chances of a student incurring serious abdominal or neck injuries during an accident.
· As studies found that young passengers were likely to wear shoulder safety belts incorrectly, having this type of seatbelt on buses could increase the chances of more injury.

The National Safety Council offers the following safety tips when riding a school bus:

· Have a safe place to wait for your bus, away from traffic and the street.
· Stay away from the bus until it comes to a complete stop and the driver signals you to enter.
· When being dropped off, exit the bus and walk ten giant steps away from the bus. Keep a safe distance between you and the bus. Also, remember that the bus driver can see you best when you are back away from the bus.
· Use the handrail to enter and exit the bus.
· Stay away from the bus until the driver gives his/her signal that it's okay to approach.
· Be aware of the street traffic around you. Drivers are required to follow certain rules of the road concerning school buses, however, not all do. Protect yourself and watch out!

The law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles personal injury cases resulting from the negligence of another driver. If you live in the Maryland or Washington D.C. areas, and your child has been injured in a local bus accident, contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.

School bus, Car Collide In Sykesville, Baltimoresun.com, October 25, 2006

Bus Crash Renews Debate On Seat Belts, Washingtonpost.com, April 19, 2005

Recent School Bus Accidents Revive Call For Seat Belts, USA Today.com, April 9, 2005

Back To School Safety Tips, NSC.org

Related Web Resource:

National Coalition For School Bus Safety

The June 22 death of 5-Year-Old Connor Freed is causing residents and lawmakers to reevaluate whether there should be more monitoring and regulating of Maryland’s swimming pools.

Freed drowned this past summer at the Crofton Country Club. His parents later filed a $20 million wrongful death suit against the club and its pool management company. The suit claims that the club and company did not do enough to make sure there were enough experienced lifeguards on site.

Freed’s family has established the Connor Cares Foundation and hopes to persuade lawmakers to create new laws that will ensure stricter safety and security around pools in Maryland.

According to USA Safekids.org:

· Drowning is the second cause of injury-related deaths for kids ages 14 and under.
· In 2004, 3702 children (ages 14 and under) were treated in emergency rooms after nearly drowning.
· 40% of these near-drowning incidents took place in swimming pools.

According to Poseidon.com:

· In 2000, there were 3,482 unintentional drownings in the United States; that's an average of nine people per day (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

· It is estimated that for each drowning death, there are 1 to 4 nonfatal submersions serious enough to result in hospitalization. Children who still require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the time they arrive at the emergency department have a poor prognosis, with at least half of survivors suffering significant neurological impairment (American Academy of Pediatrics).

· Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15
(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

· 19% of drowning deaths involving children occur in public pools with certified lifeguards present.
(Drowning Prevention Foundation).

· A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be involved in the death of children 4 years of age and under (Orange County California Fire Authority).

· Children under five years of age and adolescents between the ages of 15-24 have the highest drowning rates (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

· An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to unintentional drowning-related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital, and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability (National Safety Council).

· Of all preschoolers who drown, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less (Orange County, CA, Fire Authority).

· The majority of children who survive (92 percent) are discovered within two minutes following submersion, and most children who die (86 percent) are found after 10 minutes. Nearly all who require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) die or are left with severe brain injury (National Safe Kids Campaign).

If your child has been seriously injured or killed in a drowning accident, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit. The law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles wrongful death suits and lawsuits involving injuries to minors. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.

A.A. County Renews Push For Safer Pools, WJZ.com, October 7, 2006

Drowning Fact Sheet, Poseidon.com

Pool And Spa Drowning, USASafekids.org

Related Web Resources:

Family Sues Country Club Over 5-Year-Old's Drowning, HometownAnnapolis.com, July 21, 2006

Parents Sue Over Child's Drowning At Country Club, Baltimoresun.com, July 21, 2006

Connorcares.org

Swimming Pools, Safety Is No Accident, Consumeraffairs.com

Yesterday, A 7-year-old child was hit by a motor vehicle after she ran onto the 2900 block of Stanton Road. According to police, the child is being treated for bruises and scrapes. This is the second child pedestrian-related accident on a D.C. street in the last few days.Just five days ago, 4-year-old girl was killed by a truck.

In 2005, According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA):

· 64, 000 pedestrians were injured.
· 16,000 of those injured were 14-years-of-age or younger.
· 4881 pedestrians were killed.
· Kids who were 14 years of age and younger made up 7 % (339) of these fatalities.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) explains why child pedestrians are at high risk for sustaining injuries on the road:

· In the United States, 4,641 pedestrians died from traffic-related injuries in 2004, and another 68,000sustained nonfatal injuries (NHTSA 2005).
· Nearly one-fifth of the traffic fatalities among children ages 5-9 years were sustained by pedestrians (NHTSA 2005).

Children are at increased risk for pedestrian injuries for several reasons:

· Their smaller size makes them difficult for drivers to see, especially if they are standing between parked cars on the side of the road.
· Young children are often unable to judge distances and vehicle speeds accurately, so they can easily misjudge whether it is safe to cross a street.
· Parents can overestimate their child’s ability to cross the street. Many elementary school-age children don’t understand traffic signals or how to anticipate a driver’s actions.
· Drivers and child pedestrians each assume (incorrectly) that the other will yield the right-of-way.

The personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles pedestrian accidents and accidents involving minors. If you have a child who has been injured or killed in a pedestrian-related traffic accident, please contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for a free consultation.

Child, 7, Struck By Vehicle in Southeast, wtop.com, Oct 3, 2006

Traffic Safety Facts, 2005, NHTSA (PDF)

Child Pedestrian Safety, CDC.gov

Related Web Resources:

Pedestrian Safety Tips, Safekids.org

Facts About Injuries To Child Pedestrians, (PDF)