Maryland Accident Law Blog

Penn State Prepares for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits After Sandusky Verdict

June 28, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Penn State University is reportedly seeking to settle the civil lawsuits filed by victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky after a Pennsylvania jury convicted Sandusky on forty-five counts of sexual abuse. This reported intent includes lawsuits that were already filed against the university, and those that are sure to follow. Penn State proposed a process to “address the victims’ concerns and compensate them for claims” related to allegations of abuse by Sandusky and both inaction and concealment by the university. In all likelihood, the university wants to resolve all potential claims quickly. Several lawsuits are already pending in Pennsylvania courts.

Sandusky worked in the Penn State football program for decades, retiring in 1999 but staying on with an “emeritus” title. He founded The Second Mile, a charity intended to help at-risk youth, in 1977. Prosecutors alleged that he used the charity to find his victims. They also alleged that the university knew about allegations of abuse going back years but failed to follow up on reports and investigations. In addition to the charges against Sandusky, prosecutors charged several Penn State administrators with perjury and obstruction of justice. After a trial lasting about a week, a jury convicted Sandusky on all but three charges of sexual abuse, forty-five in total.

If a Maryland Employees Gets Into A Distracted Driving Accident, When is the Employer Liable?

June 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The problem of distracted driving, or driving while also trying to use a cell phone or other mobile device, has gained significant attention in recent years. States and cities have passed laws restricting use of mobile devices in an effort to curb distracted driving and improve safety. Distracted driving continues to play a role in thousands of automobile accidents, some of them fatal.

The federal government reports that distracted driving-related accidents killed at least 3,092 people in 2010. Around 416,000 drivers, passengers, and pedestrians were injured in crashes where at least one driver was not paying complete attention while behind the wheel. In claims for personal injuries in distracted driving accidents, the driver who caused the accident is almost always the main liable party, but in some cases a driver’s employer may also be liable. With greater attention being given to distracted driving, many employers are enacting cell phone policies in an effort to limit their own liability for their employees’ distraction-related accidents.

Employers may be liable for the negligent or unlawful actions of their employees in certain circumstances, according to the legal doctrine of respondeat superior. This doctrine holds an employer liable for accidents that occur while an employee is performing ordinary job duties in the regular course of operating their business. Courts have tended to take an expansive view of what activities are related to an employee’s job duties for the purpose of determining liability under a theory of respondeat superior. doctrine. Generally speaking, courts will apply the doctrine in a situation where an employee might engage in work-related activities, or where an observer might reasonably think the person is involved in work-related activities.

Maryland Driver Convicted for Car Accident that Severely Injured a Police Officer

June 15, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A district judge in Baltimore convicted a man of three traffic violations over a June 2011 car accident that caused disabling injuries to a police officer. The man, 23 year-old Robert Vanderford, admitted to speeding and also failing to control his speed to prevent a collision, according to the Baltimore Sun. The judge also convicted him for a third offense: driving on a suspended license. The officer injured in the crash filed a civil suit against Vanderford about a month before the criminal trial.

The accident occurred in rainy weather on June 21, 2011. Officer Teresa Rigby, a 28 year-old Baltimore police offers only three years out of the academy, was reportedly assisting a motorist whose car had become disabled in the northbound lane of an elevated portion of Interstate 83. As a tow truck driver was hooking up the motorist’s vehicle, Rigby stood on the shoulder of the highway. Vanderford’s Saab collided with Rigby’s parked police cruiser. The cruiser then hit Rigby, causing her to fall over a barrier to a parking lot at least twenty feet below.

Vanderford’s attorney said that his client was driving northbound on I-83 in the middle lane when he saw the lights on Rigby’s cruiser. The defense lawyer said that Vanderford sped up to pass another vehicle and merge into the left lane, but that his rear tires began to spin, and he lost control of the car. The skid sent his vehicle into the police cruiser. Vanderford acknowledged that he was driving above the speed limit when he lost control.

Study Scores States on Injury Prevention, Ranking Maryland High

June 7, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A study released by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a nonprofit health care policy organization based in Washington, D.C. scores all fifty states and the District of Columbia on their success at implementing recommended programs to prevent injury-related deaths. It also ranks the states and D.C. on the total number of annual deaths from injuries. Maryland scored highly with eight of ten “key indicators” for effective injury prevention. The national average for injury-related deaths is 57.9 per 100,000 people. It ranked Maryland 37th among the states, with 56.1 fatal injuries per 100,000 people.

The study, entitled “The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report,” was conducted by TFAH with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports health care. TFAH sought to bring attention to injury-related deaths, which it called an overlooked but major problem in American public health. Injuries, according to the study, rank third among causes of death for all Americans, and they are the number one cause among people aged one to forty-four. The study directly contrasts deaths from injuries with deaths due to communicable diseases like influenza and noncommunicable diseases like cancer. The lifetime costs of the injuries that occur in a single year in the U.S. now exceed $406 billion, including both medical expenses and lost productivity.

Maryland Gets Touger on Distracted Driving

May 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Distracted driving, defined as operating a motor vehicle with one’s attention split between the road and a mobile electronic communication device, is responsible for a significant number of accidents and fatalities on Maryland roads. The Maryland State Highway Administration identified 24,769 automobile accidents in 2008 that involved distracted driving. Those crashes killed thirty-four people and injured 11,578. That year, almost 6,000 people nationwide died in distraction-related crashes, with distraction playing a role in twenty-five percent of all automobile crashes. The total number of fatalities dropped to about 5,500 in 2009 and 3,000 in 2010, but those are still enormous numbers, making distracted driving nearly as big a threat as drunk driving. Recent events and legislative efforts have brought distracted driving into the spotlight again.

An accident in Connecticut demonstrates the danger posed by distracted driving. A jogger, 44 year-old Kenneth Dorsey, died on March 24 after a vehicle driven by a 16 year-old girl struck him. The girl was allegedly talking or texting on a handheld cell phone at the time. Police have not said specifically what she was allegedly doing, except that evidence suggests she had used the phone’s keypad before the accident. Prosecutors in Norwalk, Connecticut charged the girl with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and with violating the state’s ban on use of a cell phone by novice drivers.

Thirty-one states prohibit use of handheld cell phones while driving for all drivers, including Connecticut and Maryland. Distracted driving laws vary from state to state, but no states have banned use of cell phones entirely. Maryland drivers may use a cell phone with a hands-free device like a headset, although use of a cell phone in any manner by drivers under the age of eighteen will be prohibited beginning October 1, 2012. School bus drivers are currently prohibited from using a handheld cell phone while working. All drivers are prohibited from writing or sending text messages while driving, except for the purpose of contacting a 9-1-1 emergency system.

City of Baltimore Approves $340,000 in Settlements for Traffic Accidents Involving City Vehicles

May 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The City of Baltimore approved settlements in three civil claims filed against the city, totaling $340,000. The city’s Board of Estimates, a five-member board that includes the mayor, the president of the City Council, and the city comptroller, approved the settlements by a unanimous vote. The three claims all involved traffic accidents with city vehicles, including a 2007 collision between a fire truck and a car that killed three people.

Sovereign immunity, the legal principle that the government cannot be sued unless it consents to the lawsuit, governs claims made for accidents involving public vehicles, and requires that injured persons or their representatives file claims with a designated government agency before attempting to file suit. In Baltimore, for example, claims go through the city’s Law Department.

The fire truck accident occurred early on Sunday, December 9, 2007, when a fire engine ran a red light on Park Heights Avenue and struck a vehicle. The fire truck was reportedly responding to a report of smoke in an apartment building, and had its emergency lights and siren activated at the time. The smoke turned out to be from burning food in an apartment unit. Traveling at forty-seven miles per hour, the fire truck hit a Nissan Murano traveling at twenty-three miles per hour.

Parents of Students Killed in 2010 Boat Accident Settle Federal Lawsuit

May 15, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The parents of two students who died in a July 2010 boat accident settled their wrongful death lawsuit a few days into its trial in a Philadelphia federal court. The lawsuit included eighteen survivors from the accident, which occurred on the Delaware River when a city-owned barge collided with a tour boat. The plaintiffs had faced a possible cap on damages for their claims in the lawsuit based on federal maritime law. The parties reached a settlement at the urging of the judge.

The accident occurred in July 2010 on a stretch of the Delaware River in view of downtown Philadelphia. Thirty-seven passengers and crew were on board an amphibious duck boat, a vehicle that can drive on land and in water, commonly used for sightseeing tours. The duck boat had overheated due to a misplaced radiator cap. In the 103-degree heat, the duck boat’s captain reportedly thought the steam off the engine was fire. The captain dropped anchor immediately, leaving the boat stranded in a busy channel.

At the same time, an eighty-yard barge pushed by a tug was coming through the channel.The tugboat captain reportedly had a family emergency and was busy on his cellphone. He moved to a part of the tugboat where he could not see the river. He therefore failed to see the barge bearing down on the duck boat. The barge collided with the duck boat, causing it to capsize. Two passengers, 16 year-old Dora Schwendtner and 20 year-old Szabolcs Prem, both students from Hungary, died in the collision. Twenty-six passengers were injured. The tugboat captain is now serving a one-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter.

Mother of Murdered UVA Lacrosse Player Files Wrongful Death Lawsuits

May 4, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Sharon Love, the mother of Yeardley Love, has filed two lawsuits related to her daughter’s 2010 murder. Yeardley Love was a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia when her ex-boyfriend, George Huguely, killed her in May 2010. Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder in February 2012 and awaits sentencing. Sharon Love sued Huguely for wrongful death, and has now filed a separate lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the university, and several athletic officials in connection with Yeardley Love’s death.

Yeardley Love was found unresponsive in her Charlottesville, Virginia apartment in the early morning of May 3, 2010. Emergency responders pronounced her dead at the scene and noted that she had signs of physical injury, particularly blunt-force head trauma. Police arrested Huguely, whom Love had briefly dated, the following day and charged him with murder. Huguely reportedly had a history of domestic violence complaints with Love. Huguely waived his Miranda rights and told police his account of what happened that night. He said that he entered her apartment and kicked her locked bedroom door open. He shook Love, causing her head to hit the wall repeatedly. He took her laptop when he left in order to dispose of it.

Federal Port Investigators Block Importation of Nearly 650,000 Allegedly Dangerous Products in Last Quarter of 2011

April 26, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency that monitors most consumer goods sold or imported in the U.S., recently reported on a collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to monitor shipments of goods arriving at international ports from abroad. The CPSC says that it either seized or blocked over 647,000 units of goods deemed dangerous, according to federal safety standards, in the last three months of 2011. The report offers interesting information on how the government assesses the safety of consumer products and monitors shipments from abroad.

The CPSC is an independent federal agency that regulates all consumer goods not specifically assigned to a different agency. For example, federal law gives authority over the safety of pharmaceutical products to the Food and Drug Administration. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms regulates guns, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates the safety of automobiles. The CPSC has the authority to ban products it deems dangerous, keeping them out of the marketplace entirely. It can also issue recalls of products that have already reached consumers if it determines that the product poses a risk to the public.

The CPSC determines the safety of products by drawing on several sources. A national system that collects data from hospitals regarding injuries caused by consumer products allows the CPSC to estimate the probability of injuries from specific products. A consumer hotline and website, known as SaferProducts, allows consumers to report injuries or concerns directly to the agency. The CPSC began operations in 1973 and commenced product screenings at U.S. ports that same year. It states that it “intensified its efforts” in 2008, when it launched its import surveillance division.

During the fourth quarter of 2011, investigators with CPSC and CBP screened at least 2,900 shipments at U.S. ports of entry. CBP monitors ports of entry in all fifty states, D.C., and the major U.S. overseas possessions. It identifies Baltimore as the port of entry in Maryland. CPSC’s report does not indicate how many ports of entry were included in its screening.

Maryland’s Graduated Driver’s License Law Helps Prevent Teen Fatalities in Car Crashes

April 19, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Graduated driver licensing laws (GDL) in Maryland contribute to one of the lowest rates of automobile accident fatalities involving teen drivers, according to a recent study. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), working with State Farm Insurance, reviewed data on nationwide traffic accidents involving teenagers between 2009 and 2010. The study defined “teens” as people ages 15 to 19. Maryland has one of the lowest rates of teen-driver-related fatalities in the nation, and the rate has substantially declined in the past five years. Robust GDL laws, in which teen drivers initially receive highly-restricted driver’s licenses and gradually earn additional privileges, show a strong correlation with low rates of fatal automobile accidents involving teen drivers.

CHOP’s report, entitled “Miles to Go,” provides a “yearly snapshot of teen driver safety for the nation.” The study found over 55,000 serious injuries among teens due to car accidents in the period from 2009 to 2010. Thirty percent of those injuries involved head trauma, such as skull fractures or traumatic brain injuries. Head trauma is the leading cause of death for teens in traffic accidents.

A total of 3,413 car crash fatalities involving teen drivers occurred in 2010. Fatalities include teen drivers, passengers of teen drivers, people in other vehicles, and people not in a vehicle (e.g. pedestrians). The report notes that three out of ten teen fatalities in 2010 involved people outside the teen’s vehicle. The total number of fatalities involving teen drivers nationwide declined by over thirty-five percent between 2005 and 2010.

Nationwide, the fatality rate for auto accidents involving teen drivers was 9.5 per 100,000 people. Maryland had the fifth-lowest rate in the country, with 5.8 per 100,000 people. This is a decline of more than forty-eight percent from 2005. The study’s authors credit strong GDL laws in the states with the lowest fatality rates.

Maryland’s GDL law, known as the “Rookie Driver” program, issues a driver’s license to teens in three stages: a learner’s permit, a provisional license, and a full driver’s license. A teen can apply for a learner’s permit at age 15 years and 9 months. A learner’s permit holder can only drive with a person age 21 or older, who has had a full license for at least three years (known as a “qualified supervising driver”), in the front passenger seat with them.