Maryland Accident Law Blog

Maryland Pedestrian Files A Multi-Million Dollar Personal Injury Lawsuit Against Pizza Delivery Driver and the State Highway Administration

September 29, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

An Ocean City pedestrian has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the pizza delivery driver who was operating the truck that hit him, the pizza delivery company, and the state of Maryland.

In 2003, Kevin Houck was crossing the Coastal Highway with friends near 93rd street when Houck and a woman were hit by a delivery truck. Andrew Caldwell, the driver of the pizza delivery truck ,who was employed by Domino’s Pizza at the time, is named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit. Houck is seeking $1 million in damages from Caldwell for allegedly negligent driving. Houck is also asking the pizza delivery company for $1 million. In addition, Houck is suing the state of Maryland, The State Highway Administration (SHA), and the Department of Transportation for $1 million because of the allegedly faulty design of a median located in an area of the highway where it is allegedly not safe for pedestrians to cross the road.

The State Highway Administration (SHA) offers the following Pedestrian Statistics from 2003:

Maryland Women Among The 500 Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch Victims That Are Suing Johnson & Johnson

September 27, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Maryland women are among the 500 claimants who have filed personal injury lawsuits related to injuries and deaths that were caused by using the Ortho Evra birth control patch. According to legal analysts, however, thousands of women around the world have suffered heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots as a result of using the patch but do not know that the patch was the reason. Many families are believed to have lost loved ones for the same reason.

The FDA announced last week that it had updated the label on the Ortho Evra birth control patch to include the results from one study that reported that women who used the patch were twice as likely to sustain a blood clot than women using the pill. Another test indicated that there was no difference in risk factors between women using both kinds of birth control.

The FDA offers the following Patient Information Sheet for women using Ortho Evra:

National Transportation Safety Board Says There Was An Increase In Transportation-Related Fatalities in 2005

September 22, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The National Transportation Safety Board is reporting that there was an increase in transportation-related fatalities in 2005.

According to preliminary figures released by the NTSB this week, from 2004-2005:

· Deaths from transportation-related accidents went up from 45,092 to 45,636.

In Ocean City, Maryland, The Sixth Annual Delmarva Biker Week Wraps Up

September 21, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Over 100,000 attended the Sixth Annual Delmarva Biker week that took place from September 14-17. The number of attendees from last year was slightly down due to bad weather.

The following motorcycle accidents took place over the weekend in Ocean City:

· Jason Bowen, 24, of Harrington suffered serious injuries while performing tricks on his bike on Friday, September 15, near 85th Street. He was flung into the air and traveled 82 feet before hitting a median.

In Cecil County, Maryland, A 16-Year-Old Elkton Boy Is Critically Injured In Tubing Accident On The Elk River

September 20, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police say that a 16-year-old Elkton boy was critically injured last week after the tube that he was being towed in hit the floating pier at 55 Knollwood Road on the Elk River. Susan Archibald was operating the personal watercraft (PWC) that was towing the tube on Tuesday, September 12. The teenager was taken to Maryland Trauma Shock Center where he was treated for injuries. The NRP are investigating the incident and deciding whether to press charges.

According to the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation’s website:

· 12,290 people were treated in emergency rooms due to PWC-related injuries.

ABATE of Maryland Members Pay Tribute To Biker Who Died In Recent Motorcycle Accident

September 14, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Last Thursday, hundreds of Maryland motorcycle riders paid tribute to fellow cyclist Marty Schultz who died in a motorcycle accident on August 30.

Schultz was the director A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments (ABATE) of Maryland, the largest organization in the state that advocates motorcyclists’ rights. ABATE of Maryland believes that motorcyclists have the right to decide whether or not to wear a helmet.

Schultz was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. His fellow ABATE of Maryland members say failure to yield the right of way by the other driver was what caused his death.

Maryland Police Motorcycle Escort Is Buried With Honor 8 Months After Being Hit By A Van

September 13, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Officer Robert T. Krauss, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police motorcycle officer who was injured when he was hit by a van in Baltimore while escorting a funeral possession on December 21, 2005, was given a hero’s burial last week after he passed away on September 1.

Krauss had been undergoing one of several surgeries for his injuries when he died at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Rodney Austin, the driver of the van that hit Krauss, has already been convicted for driving under the influence and was sentenced to time in prison. More charges may be pending now that Krauss is dead.

On the Loyola University Health System website, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

White Oak Middle School Students Are Treated For Injuries After Being Hit By A Van In Silver Spring, Maryland

September 12, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A few of the 10 school children who were injured after being hit by a white Ford van while waiting for their school bus at a bus stop in front of Forest Park Apartments on Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring are still being treated for their injuries.

Montgomery County police say the accident took place on the morning of Friday, September 1, when Sebastian Vasquez, the driver of the van, lost control of his vehicle and hit a curb, a fire hydrant, and the middle school students.

The students were taken to Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park and Children’s Hospital in Washington D.C. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, and it is not known whether Vasquez will be charged with committing any crime.

9-Year-Old Pennsylvania Boy Files Personal Injury Lawsuit After Sustaining Head Injury In July Bus Accident That Took Place In Aberdeen, Maryland

September 7, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 9-year-old boy and his mother have filed personal injury lawsuits against the Yellowbird Bus Company and the Cowan Truck Company after the school bus he was riding in collided with a tractor-trailer on I-95 in Aberdeen, Maryland on July 5. The bus had been returning from a field trip to the Baltimore Aquarium.

Manny Basco, who suffered a concussion, is one of just dozens of Kensington, Pennsylvania students attending the Norris Square Day Camp who were injured in the crash. At least 21 other people have filed lawsuits against the bus and truck companies.

According to Basco’s mother, Ruth, the boy is now too traumatized to ride a bus again.

In Maryland, Divers Recover Body Of Man Who Died In Boating Accident During September 3 Ragin’ On The River Powerboat Race

September 6, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Maryland yesterday, diving teams recovered the body of a man who had been killed while participating in a boat race on September 3.

Maryland Natural Resources Police say Paul Henry Sohn had been racing his boat the Jumpin’ Jack Flash in the yearly Ragin’ On the River Powerboat Race on Sunday, when the boat split in half after bouncing off another boat’s wake and launching into the air. His body, recovered at the bottom of the Susquehanna River, was still strapped to the boat. Sohn’s son, 15-year-old Timothy John Sohn, who had also been on the boat at the time of the accident, was able to escape uninjured.

Volunteer dive teams from Hartford, Cecil, and Baltimore counties joined DNR dive teams and emergency crews from the powerboat association to look for Sohn.