Maryland Accident Law Blog

U.S. Department of Transportation Says Seat Belt Use Down While Motorcycle Helmet Use Rises

January 3, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters says that Americans need to take greater precautions on the road to increase safety and save more lives.

According to the latest information from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), Secretary Peters said that seat belt use in the U.S. is down slightly from 2005, now standing at 81% instead of 82% That’s because while on the West Coast, belt use climbed from 85% to 90% and rose from 82 to 83% in the South, in the Northeast, belt use dropped to from 78% to 74% and from 79% to 77% in the Midwest.

A seat belt can’t work if it isn’t on,” said Secretary Peters. “Whatever it takes, we all need to do a better job making sure everyone chooses to buckle up.”

Peters also mentioned that the DOT is continuing to work with the different states to promote seat belt use. In 2006 alone, the DOT provided over $123 million in incentive grants to states that had primary seat belt laws. It also worked with each state on the nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign that had police agencies across the country enforce the seat belt laws in their state.

According to the DOT:

· Research has shown that lap/shoulder belts, when used properly, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50 percent. For light truck occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.

· Safety belts should always be worn, even when riding in vehicles equipped with air bags. Air bags are designed to work with safety belts, not alone. Air bags, when not used with safety belts, have a fatality-reducing effectiveness rate of only 12 percent.

· Safety belt usage saves society an estimated $50 billion annually in medical care, lost productivity, and other injury-related costs.

· Conversely, safety belt nonuse results in significant economic costs to society. The needless deaths and injuries from safety belt nonuse account for an estimated $26 billion in economic costs to society annually.16 The cost goes beyond the lost lives of unbuckled drivers and passengers: We all pay – in higher taxes and higher health care and insurance costs.

Peters said that use of helmets by motorcyclists in the U.S. is up 51% from 48%. In particular, in the West, helmet use increased from 50% to 72% and 42% to 47% in the Northeast. The rate of use, however, decreased from 53% to 50% in the Midwest and 49% to 45% in the South. The survey only took into account the helmets that complied with DOT safety standards.

Saferoads.org offers the following motorcycle helmet statistics:

– In 2004, 66% of fatally injured motorcycle riders were not wearing a helmet in states without all-rider helmet laws, compared with only 15% in states with all-rider helmet laws. (NHTSA, 2005)

– Per vehicle miles traveled, motorcyclists are about 21 times as likely as passenger car occupants to die in a traffic crash and four times as likely to be injured. (NHTSA, 2001)

– In 2003, 36 percent of all motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes were speeding, approximately twice the rate for drivers of passenger cars or light trucks. The percentage of alcohol involvement was 40 percent higher for motorcyclists than for drivers of passenger vehicles. (NHTSA, 2003)

– Motorcyclist fatalities are rising fastest among motorcycle riders over age 40. In 2003 alone, fatalities increased by 16%. (NHTSA, 2003)

– Helmets reduce the risk of death by 29% and are 67% effective in preventing brain injuries to motorcycle riders. (NHTSA, 2001)

Two People Die On The Baltimore-Washington Parkway In Serious Three-Car Accident

January 2, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

U.S. Park Police say that on the morning of Thursday, December 28, two people died near Route 197 in the Laurel, Maryland area after a Chevy going south crossed into the northbound lanes and struck a white Infinty. The driver of the Chevy and the driver of the Infinity died at the accident scene. A blue pickup truck was also hit in the collision, but both people in the truck are reportedly fine.

There are several kinds of vehicle-related accidents that can occur, including:

– rear-end collisions – when one vehicle hits the rear end of another.
– head-on collisions – when more than one vehicle collides with the other on their front sides.
– rollovers – a vehicle turns over after being involved in an accident.
– side collisions – an accident where the side of at least one vehicle is impacted.
– multi-vehicle accidents – an accident involving several vehicles.
– single car collisions – an accident involving just one vehicle.
–

Vehicle-related collisions can carry legal consequences in proportion to the severity of the accident. By law, anyone involved in a collision (even with only stationary property) must stop at the scene, exchange information, or call the police when necessary. Failing to obey this requirement is referred to as a hit and run accident and is generally a criminal offense.

Parties involved in an accident may face criminal liability, civil liability, or both. Usually, the state starts a prosecution only if someone is severely injured or killed, or if one of the drivers involved was clearly grossly negligent or intoxicated or otherwise impaired at the time the accident occurred. It is notable that the penalties for killing and injuring with motor vehicles are often very much less than for other actions with similar outcomes.

As for civil liability, automobile accident personal injury lawsuits have become the most common type of tort. The courts most usually decide solely the factual questions of who is at fault, and how much they (or their insurer) must pay out in damages to the injured plaintiff.

A personal injury attorney can help you file a claim if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident due to another driver’s negligent actions. A personal injury attorney can also help you sue for damages for the death of a loved one who has been killed in a vehicle-related accident due to someone else’s negligence.

In Wrongful Death Suit, Frederick Man’s Family Sues Wal-Mart For $50 Million

December 28, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family of Keith Scofield, a Frederick man who died 20 days after being sold the wrong drug for diabetes at a local Wal-Mart, is suing the retail chain for $50 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. The documents were filed in Frederick County Circuit Court on December 1.

According to the documents, Scofield died on Jan 2, 2006 after taking a prescription that was five times stronger than the over-the-counter dose he had requested at the Guilford Drive Store on December 13. In the complaint, Wal-Mart is being accused of gross negligence related to insulin poisoning. This includes placing the public at risk and failing to properly train pharmacy employees.

Mr. Scofield’s parents and his brother Kraig Scofield are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Kraig was with Keith when a when a Wal-Mart employee gave Keith Humulin R (u-500) instead of Humulin R (u-100). The brothers were not aware that they had been given the wrong medication.

“Wal-Mart failed to implement a proper practice for training pharmacists how to execute their duties and their obligations under Maryland law,” Mr. Quinn wrote in the documents. “Wal-Mart had actual knowledge of the employee’s incompetence.”

The complaint goes on to say that the employee’s failure to include a warning with the medicine led to Scofield’s wrongful death.

Parents Of Natalie Holloway File Wrongful Death Suit Against Brothers

December 26, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Natalee Holloway’s parents have filed a wrongful death suit against two former suspects in the missing Alabama teenager’s case. Holloway had disappeared in 2005 while on a trip with schoolmates. Aruba police had searched for Holloway, but no one has ever been charged for her disappearance.

Holloway, 18, was last seen getting into a car with the Kalpoes and their friend, Joran van der Sloot on May 30, 2005. Holloway’s parents are requesting unspecified damages and a jury trial. They filed the lawsuit one day after the brothers sued the Dr. Phil show for slander and libel.

The Kalpoe brothers claim that a private investigator had secretly taped a conversation with Deepak and aired the audio on the show. They are accusing the show of altering parts of the conversation to “create false, incriminating, and defamatory statements that the plaintiffs engaged in criminal activity against Natalee Holloway.”

In the civil suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway accuse Satish and Deepak Kalpoe of intentionally, negligently, wantonly” caused fatal injury to their daughter.

Calculating Damages

The law of each state governs the amount of damages recoverable by statutory beneficiaries. Compensatory damages, which are intended to make restitution for the amount of money lost, are the most common damages awarded in wrongful death actions. Plaintiffs who prevail in a wrongful death lawsuit may recover medical and funeral expenses in addition to the amount of economic support they could have received if the decedent had lived and, in some instances, a sum of money to compensate for grief or loss of services or companionship.

Determining the amount of damages in a wrongful death action requires taking into account many variables. To compute compensation, the salary that the decedent could have earned can be multiplied by the number of years he most likely would have lived and can be adjusted for various factors, including inflation. Standard actuarial tables serve as guides for the life expectancy of particular groups identified by age or gender. The decedent’s mental and physical health, along with the nature of his work, can be taken into consideration by a jury.

Damages cannot always be calculated on the basis of potential earnings because not everyone is employed. Courts have set minimum yearly dollar amounts for the worth of an individual’s housekeeping and for child care services. Moreover, an additional recovery might be justified on the basis of grief and loss of companionship.

Punitive damages may be awarded in a wrongful death case if the defendant’s actions were particularly reckless or heinous. Punitive damages are a means of punishing the defendant for her action and are awarded at the discretion of the jury.

Any damages recovered are distributed among the survivors subject to the statutes of each state. Courts frequently divide an award based on the extent of each beneficiary’s loss.

Limitations on Recovery of Damages

Some states limit the amount of money that can be recovered in a wrongful death action. For example, many state and local governments that waive sovereign immunity set a maximum amount of damages that can be recovered for a wrongful death. However, a number of states do not limit the amount of damages for wrongful death.

December is National Drunk And Drugged Driving Prevention Month

December 20, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Every year, in the United States, National Drunk and Drugged Driving And Prevention Month reminds people of the dangers of drunk driving.

According to USA Today, over 1.5 million people were arrested in the U.S. in 2005 for drunk driving. At least that many people are believed to have driven while under the influence of drugs.

National Commission Against Drunk Driving Statistics:
· 41 percent of all traffic crashes are alcohol-related.
· Nearly 600,000 Americans are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes each year.
· Someone dies in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 30 minutes. Every two minutes, someone is hurt (nonfatally injured) in an alcohol-related accident.

· Three out of every 10 Americans face the possibility of being directly involved in an alcohol-related traffic crash during their lifetime.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Impaired Driving Facts
· Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe et al. 2002).
· Most drinking and driving episodes go undetected. In 2001, more than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (FBI 2001). That’s slightly more than 1 percent of the 120 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year (Dellinger et al.1999). · Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) have been identified as factors in 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. Other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol (NHTSA 1993).
· Male drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes are almost twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10% or greater (NHTSA 2003a). A BAC of 0.08% is equal to or greater than the legal limit in most states.
· At all levels of blood alcohol concentration, the risk of being involved in a crash is greater for young people than it is for older people (Mayhew 1986)
· . In 2002, 24% of drivers ages 15 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol (NHTSA 2003b ).
· Young men ages 18 to 20 (too young to buy alcohol legally) report driving while impaired almost as frequently as men ages 21 to 34 (Liu 1997).
· In 2002, 22% of the 2,197 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years involved alcohol (NHTSA 2003c).
· Adult drivers ages 35 and older who have been arrested for impaired driving are 11 to 12 times more likely than those who have never been arrested to die eventually in crashes involving alcohol (Brewer 1994).

· Nearly three quarters of drivers convicted of driving while impaired are either frequent heavy drinkers (alcohol abusers) or alcoholics (people who are alcohol dependent) (Miller 1986).

National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan in 1982.

Rosedale, Maryland Pedestrian Is Critically Injured After Car Accident

December 18, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While walking through a parking area behind Sam’s Club at the Golden Ring Mall on December 11, Edward Witte, 61, was struck by a vehicle and dragged for about 30 feet. The driver of the vehicle was Baltimore resident Margaret Wance, 65. A police helicopter flew Witte to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police investigating the accident say early indications show that Wance’s car swerved into the pedestrian.

If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident and you would like to file a personal injury lawsuit, there are a number of steps you can take in the initial days and weeks following the accident to protect your right to compensation.

Nolo.com provides the following suggestions:

· Write down as much as you can about the accident itself, your injuries, and any other losses (such as wages) you’ve suffered as a result of the accident.
· Make notes of conversations that you have with people involved in the accident or the injury claim.
· Preserve evidence of who caused the accident and what damage was done by collecting physical evidence and taking photographs.
· Locate people who witnessed the accident and who might be able to help you prove your case.

· Notify anyone you think might be responsible for the accident of your intention to file a claim for your injuries.

It is important that you take very thorough notes regarding your accident and your injury. This will be very important later when you want to explain to an insurance company exactly what happened to you and the extent of your pain and injuries. Try to preserve any physical evidence that you can find. If possible, you may want to return to the accident scene to take photographs. You may also want to preserve any physical damages, such as damage to your car, damage to your clothing, or a broken mirror. This well help you later, should you decide to file a personal injury lawsuit.

It is also important that you notify the party or parties that you believe to be responsible for the accident by writing them a letter of notification. This letter of notification should include basic information about the accident. Do not, however, discuss fault or responsibility in your letter. Notify these parties right away.

A personal injury attorney can help you file your claim to help you reach a settlement. If a settlement isn’t reached, your attorney may have to take your personal injury lawsuit to court. In Maryland, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is three years.

On “Deadliest Drunk Driving States” List, Washington D.C. Ranks #1

December 15, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With all the holiday parties that take place at the end of the year, drunk driving incidents tend to occur more frequently—which can be especially dangerous if you live in one of the 15 U.S. states where at least 41% of all traffic fatalities can be attributed to drunk driving.

The End Needless Deaths on Our Roadways (END) group, an advocacy organization led by doctors, has just released its list of 15 U.S. states where the most traffic-related deaths occurred due to drinking. Washington D.C. topped this list, where drunk driving was a cause of 54.17% of vehicle-related deaths.

Who Else Made the List:
· Connecticut
· Hawaii
· Illinois
· Montana
· Rhode Island
· South Carolina
· South Dakota
· Texas
· Washington, D.C.
· Wisconsin
· Alaska
· Arizona
· Delaware
· North Dakota
· Washington

END says that in 2005, close to 17,000 motorists were killed in drunk driving accidents in the US with more than 4,000 of those fatalities taking place in these 15 states. Rankings were determined by data taken from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s reporting system.

The CDC offers the following suggestions to prevent injuries due to impaired driving:

· Sobriety checkpoints. Fatal crashes thought to involve alcohol dropped a median of 22% (with random breath testing) and 23% (with selective breath testing) following implementation of sobriety checkpoints.

· 0.08% BAC laws. Fatal alcohol-related crashes showed a median decrease of 7% following the implementation of 0.08% BAC laws in 16 states.

· Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws. Raising the MLDA, such as from 18 to 21, decreases crash-related outcomes a median of 16% for the targeted age groups.

· “Zero tolerance” laws for young drivers. One study found that fatal crash outcomes decreased 24% after implementation of “zero tolerance” laws (Elder et al. 2002, Howat et al. 2004, Shults et al. 2001, Shults et al. 2002).

END is recommending that medical workers and physicians work harder to identify whether patients have drinking problems. The group also suggested that states increase fines and prison times for DUI offenders, while also penalizing motorists who refuse to be tested for sobriety.

Utah, which has the strictest drinking laws in the U.S., has the lowest alcohol-related deaths rate at 13.12%.

In Howard County Circuit Court, Parents of Two Teenagers Killed In Tractor-Trailer Accident File $5 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuits

December 14, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Maryland State Police, a former Howard County police officer, and a state trooper are among the 11 parties being sued for the wrongful deaths of two teenager who were killed in an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a non-working traffic light in Jessup, Maryland last January. In two separate lawsuits, Roger and Nancy Caplan, the parents of Scott Caplan, 19, and William and Linda Howard, the parents of Theresa E. Howard, 18, are asking for $5 million in damages.

Theresa Howard and Scott Caplan had been traveling in a Volvo going westbound on Route 175 when a tractor-trailer exiting southbound on 1-95 hit their vehicle. The traffic light at the intersection was not working at that time. According to the lawsuit filed, even though a Howard County police officer and a Maryland State police trooper had visited the intersection when the light was out, both of them failed to supervise the intersection or let drivers know that the light wasn’t working.

Defendants in the lawsuit include State trooper Raymond A. Hale and then-Howard County police officer Patrick Egley (the two men who visited the intersection and were aware of the nonworking light), Maryland State Police, the state of Maryland, Meghan St. Martin (the person who was driving the Volvo), Gary Lee Dicks (the truck driver whose truck hit the Volvo), and the five transportation companies who subcontracted work to Dicks.

St. Martin, The driver of the Volvo, also filed a lawsuit for $300,000 against Dicks, the trucking company that hired him, the state of Maryland, Howard County, and Officer Hegley. Dicks has been charged with negligent driving and failing to yield to oncoming traffic on a highway.

In a wrongful death claim, the person who is considered responsible for causing another person’s death due to their negligent actions can be sued for wrongful death.

Usually, the people who can file a wrongful death suit are:

· The child or children of a parent(s) that has died.
· The parents of a child who has died.

· A husband or a wife who has lost their spouse.

In certain states, legal dependents, grandparents, and other kinds of relatives can file.

A wrongful death suit can be filed against a wide variety of people, such as:
· A criminal who caused the wrongful death.
· The manufacturer of a defective product that led to the wrongful death.
· The driver of a vehicle responsible for a wrongful death-related accident.
· The state—if their negligent actions led to a wrongful death.
· The police or fire department—if their actions or nonaction led to a wrongful death.
· The owner of a pool where someone drowned because there was no supervision.

· A doctor whose failure to make a diagnosis led to someone’s death.

Family members, however, cannot sue another member for wrongful death unless they are not blood relatives.

The amount of damages that can be brought and the settlement amount that can be reached will depend on the laws of the state where the wrongful death occurred.

In Car Accident Near The Maryland Line, Two People Are Injured On Del. 301

December 12, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Two people were treated at Christiana Hospital last Friday night after being injured in a car crash on Del. 301 in the vicinity of Strawberry Lane near the Maryland line.

According to Maryland State Police, the car collision occurred after a 2000 Ford Taurus pulled out of a service station into the path of a 2005 Acura. Rescue workers spent more than 40 minutes freeing Julia Wickersham, 28, from the wreckage. County paramedics treated her for fractures and she was reportedly in critical condition when she was flown to the hospital. A male passenger in the vehicle she was driving was treated for facial cuts. The other driver, Edgar Ferriera, 25, was also taken to Christiana Hospital in reportedly serious condition. He sustained a leg fracture in the accident.

When a person has been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, they may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit. In order to win a personal injury suit, however, you must be able to prove that someone was legally liable for the injury because of his or her carelessness or negligence. A basic rule is applied by the law regarding this carelessness. If one person in an accident was more careless than the other, the less careful person must pay for at least part of the damages suffered by the person who was more careful.

Determining Legal Liability

Liability revolves around the simple fact that most accidents happen because someone was careless — or “negligent.” To this carelessness, the law applies a basic rule: If one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.

According to Nolo.com, legal liability for almost all accidents is determined by this rule of carelessness, and by one or more of the following simple propositions:

· If the injured person was where he or she was not supposed to be, or somewhere he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident might not be liable because that person had no “duty” to be careful toward the injured person.

· If the injured person was also careless, his or her compensation may be reduced by the extent such carelessness was also responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence.

· If a negligent person causes an accident while working for someone else, the employer may also be legally responsible for the accident.

· If an accident is caused on property that is dangerous because it is poorly built or maintained, the owner of the property is liable for being careless in maintaining the property, regardless of whether he or she actually created the dangerous condition.

· If an accident is caused by a defective product, the manufacturer and seller of the product are both liable even if the injured person doesn’t know which one was careless in creating or allowing the defect, or exactly how the defect happened.

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

December 8, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

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.