Maryland Accident Law Blog

Toddler and Teen Pedestrians Injured During East Baltimore Car Accident

July 12, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 14-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy were injured during an East Baltimore car accident yesterday afternoon. The two children were close to the intersection of North Highland Avenue and East Fayette Street when they were hit by a car. Charges are pending against the motorist that struck them.

Child Pedestrian Accidents

Many children lack the judgment and experience to protect themselves from Maryland pedestrian accidents. Although drivers must always refrain from negligent driving to avoid striking pedestrians of any age, they must exercise extra caution around children.

Steps motorists can take to avoid striking child pedestrians:

• Drive at a slower speed in residential neighborhoods and areas where children are likely to be playing or walking to and from school.

• Obey traffic signs and signage and respect crosswalks and speed limits.

• When backing up your car, do so cautiously and slowly. Many child pedestrians are injured in backover accidents each year.

• Don’t text message or talk on the phone while driving.

• Keep your eyes and attention on the road at all times.

In 2008, 270 children in the 14 and under age group were killed in US pedestrian accidents. Our Baltimore injuries to children and minors lawyers have seen the devastating toll pedestrian accidents can take on the victims and their families.

Serious Maryland pedestrian injuries have included traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, internal injuries, and wrongful death.

Teen, toddler hit by car, injured; charges pending against driver, Baltimore Sun, July 11, 2010

Children: 2008 Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Pedestrian Safety, CDC
Pedestrians, NHTSA

Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

ATV Accidents: Number of Spinal and Head Trauma Injury Cases are Rising, Say Researchers

July 8, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to the University of Utah Department of Neurosurgery, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of severe head and spinal trauma cases involving all-terrain vehicle. Its researchers’ findings, published in Neurosurgery, emphasis the need for better ATV stability, better rider training, and helmet use.

The research, which is to be published in the journal Neurosurgery, states that:

• ATV injuries resulted in 495 deaths and 1,117,000 emergency room visits in 2001—159% and 211% more, respectively than 1993.

Baltimore Couple Files $20 Million Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Alleging Wrongful Birth

July 6, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Jessica Young and Antoine McLeod are accusing American Radiology Services, Dr. Karen Y. Perkins, and the Johns Hopkins Health System Corp. of Maryland medical malpractice. In their $20 million wrongful birth lawsuit, the Baltimore couple is claiming that a medical record mixup prevented them from receiving information about their baby’s birth defects that could have allowed them to decide whether they wanted to terminate the pregnancy.

Antonio Jesse McLeod was born prematurely last year with a number of birth defects, including a hole in his diaphragm. Also, his stomach was in his chest cavity.

According to the family’s medical malpractice complaint involving Maryland injuries to a minor, the abnormalities were visible in a sonogram performed by American Radiology Services months before the baby was born but that the radiology testing company sent the test results to the wrong doctor. Another Dr. Perkins and not the Dr. Perkins who was Young’s obstetrician received the results. Because of this mistake, Young’s Dr. Karen Y. Perkins never saw the sonogram and thought the baby was healthy and the couple were never notified that their child was going to be born with any serious birth defects.

$1.65 Million Frederick County, Maryland Wrongful Death Award Issued to Parents of Man Who Died in Accidental Shooting

June 28, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Frederick County Circuit Judge John H. Tisdale has awarded the parents of Michael Abraham Brall $1.65 million in their Maryland wrongful death lawsuit against Brian Gregory Stone. Stone accidentally shot Brall on October 25, 2007.

The two men had been drinking at a local bar that night when the decided to go to Stone’s apartment. Stone, then 22, reportedly was showing Brall, 23, his roommate’s gun when it went off, sending a bullet into Brall’s chest. He died at the accident site.

At his 2008 criminal trial, Stone said he didn’t know the gun was loaded when he showed the gun to Brall. He says that Brall had asked to see the weapon. Stone was later found not guilty of reckless endangerment and manslaughter.

Prince George’s County Jury Awards $2.025 Million Maryland Wrongful Death Verdict to Family of Inmate Killed by Dump Truck

June 25, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family and estate of Rodney Jennings has been awarded a $2.025 Maryland wrongful death verdict against dump truck driver Wayne Goss and the state of Maryland, Jennings, 28, died in August 2007 after he was hit by a dump truck on Interstate 495.

At the time, Jennings was an inmate serving time for a drug-related charge. The Prince George’s County dump truck accident happened while he picking up trash. Jennings was part of a work detail working under the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

On the morning of August 23, 2007, Jennings was struck by Goss’s 39-ton dump truck as he and other inmates on the work crew tired crossing the Exit 17 ramp for Route 202. His legs were crushed during the Maryland truck accident and, according to the family’s Prince George’s County wrongful death lawyer, Jennings experienced severe pain for about 45 minutes prior to his passing.

Carroll County Motorcycle Death is Third One This Year

June 21, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Washington Irving Wheeler died in a Carroll County motorcycle crash on June 10. The 41-year-old was riding his bike south on Md. 30 when he was involved in a traffic collision with a Chevrolet Cavalier whose driver was attempting to make a left turn. According to police, Wheeler was not at fault in causing the Maryland motorcycle accident.

His death is the third Carroll County motorcycle fatality this year—an increase from the two Carroll County motorcycle deaths in 2009. On March 31, Westminster resident William Parry was killed after his bike and a motor vehicle that was also making a turn collided. In an unrelated traffic crash, motorcyclist Brian Ecker, died on May 15 when his motorcycle struck a fence and a mailbox.

In another recent Carroll County, Maryland motorcycle accident, two local residents suffered injuries on June 12 when the motorcycle they were riding and a car collided at the intersection of Broadfording Road and Md. 63. The motorcycle struck the driver’s side of the 2004 Chevy Monte Carlo as it pulled out from the stop sign. The two riders were thrown from their bike.

Police are saying that there is a huge tree at that intersection that obstructs the view from both roads, which makes it likely that both drivers couldn’t see each other. The motorcycle driver, 41-year-old Michael Destefano, was flown to University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in critical condition. His girlfriend, 45-year-old Christine Biddinger, was treated for a collapsed lung, chest injuries, and a broken arm.

Carroll County man in critical condition after motorcycle accident, Herald Mail, June 12, 2010
Md. 30 crash is Carroll’s third motorcycle fatality this year, Carroll County Times, June 16, 2010
Related Web Resources:
2010 Maryland Motorcycle Safety Program , Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration
Maryland Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog

Columbia Man Files $50 Million Maryland Police Brutality Lawsuit Against Howard County Police

June 16, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Melvin Yates is suing the government of Howard County, Police Chief William McMahon, and three officers for $50 million. In his federal lawsuit, the 23-year-old is accusing the officers of beating him until he became semiconscious at his father’s memorial party last April.

According to Yates, on April 10 police were called to the memorial party that Yates was holding for his father, who died in a motorcycle crash last year, because a fight broke out. Yates claims he was not involved in the disagreement and that he actually tried to leave the party because he was upset that his guests were disrespecting his father’s memory with their dispute. It was then that a police officer stopped him from leaving, several cops surrounded him, and he was told that he was going to jail.

In his Howard County police brutality complaint, Yates contends that he cooperated with the police officers, who handcuffed him, but that a number of police officers started shoving him against a vehicle, using objects to hit him on the head, and kicking and punching him. The 23-year-old’s allegations are contrary to police claims that he resisted arrest and pushed and grabbed the officers. Their charging documents maintain that they followed police procedure.

Arnold Man Convicted of Hindering Cop Who Shot Him Plans to File Anne Arundel County Personal Injury Lawsuit

June 10, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

An Arnold man who was shot by police during an altercation at his home last July plans to file an Anne Arundel County police brutality lawsuit. Michael A. Housley was acquitted by a jury of the charge that he assaulted police officers and other related charges. He was, however, found guilty of two counts of obstructing a police officer. The 52-year-old defendant plans to seek a new trial.

On July 12, three cops were asked by Anne Arundel Medical Center to go to his home to check on Housley’s wife, Leah Housley, who left the center even though doctors hadn’t discharged her yet. Housley had taken her there because he was worried that had taken too much prescription medication. The couple says that they went home several hours after she was admitted because she was feeling better.

When the police officers arrived at their residence, Housley refused let them in without paperwork and contacted 911. Meantime, Leah told the officers she would come out but that she needed to place the family dog in the bathroom first.

Woman Claims Maryland Fall Accident Left Her with a Russian Accent

June 3, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Robin Vanderlip says she suffers from Foreign Accent Syndrome because she was injured in a Maryland fall accident three years ago. The 42-year-old says that because a handrail at the conference center in Chevy Chase was faulty, she fell backwards down a staircase and hit her head.

Vanderlip, who is American, claims that because of her head injury, she had a stroke and now can only speak with a Russian accent. She also suffers from fatigue and memory problems.

The single mother of two is seeking over $1 million in Maryland personal injury compensation from the National 4-H Council. Meantime, she continues to undergo treatment at the University of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health. Vanderlip says that her daughter is embarrassed by her foreign accent.

Harford County Woman Awarded $3.5 Million Maryland Surgical Malpractice Verdict

May 22, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A jury has awarded Victoria Little a $3.5 million Harford County surgical malpractice verdict in her case against Vascular Surgery Associates and two surgeons. The 53-year-old woman claims that she was injured in 2007 when the doctors performed an improper grafting technique during her surgery to treat her blocked arteries.

According to Little’s Maryland medical malpractice lawyers, the doctors’ negligence and improper surgical technique caused her blood pressure to drop for a prolonged period of time, which deprived her organs and tissue of oxygen. She developed a spinal cord injury, lost 5,100 milliliters of blood, and is now a paraplegic. Little says that she still experiences constant pain.

The verdict awards Little $2 million for future medical costs, $1.3 million for noneconomic damages, and over $200,000 for past medical expenses. However, the state’s pain and suffering cap is $680,000.