Maryland Accident Law Blog
In Maryland, investigators say that a police officer was speeding when he hit a 12-year-old pedestrian with his car in April in Montgomery County. Their probe found that Montgomery County Police Officer Jason Cokinos was driving more than 25 mph above the speed limit when he hit Luis Jovel with his car. Jovel was crossing the street close to his home in Clarskburg when the Maryland traffic accident happened.
Investigators says that the pedestrian accident would not have occurred if Cokinos, who was riding his cruiser while off duty, wasn’t speeding above the 30 mph speed limit. The report quotes the 23-year-old police officer as saying that he thought the speed limit was 40 mph.
Jovel suffered brain damage and is still in rehab. No criminal charges have been filed against Cokinos, who is back at work. He did receive two traffic violations related to the crash.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 4,654 pedestrian deaths and 80,000 pedestrians injured in the United States in 2007.
The WalkingInfo.org Web site says:
• 5 to 9-year-old male pedestrians are at high risk for becoming injured in a pedestrian accident.
• 65% of pedestrian accidents happen at non-intersections, especially those involving young kids that may run out onto the street.
• Pedestrian accidents are more likely to occur during the busy morning and afternoon rush hours.
• Deadly pedestrian crashes are more likely to happen after 5pm.
Report: Speeding Caused Police Cruiser To Hit 12-Year-Old, WJLA.com, August 26, 2008
Officer was speeding when he hit Clarksburg boy, report says, Gazette.net, August 21, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Speeding, SafeRoads.org
Crash Statistics, WalkingInfo.org
Please contact our Maryland pedestrian crash lawyers to schedule a free consultation. Lebowitz & Mzhen would like to talk to you.