Car Accidents

$40M Baltimore Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Maryland Motorcycle Crash Involving High-Speed Police Pursuit

April 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The mother of Haines Holloway-Lilliston is suing the city of Baltimore and Police Officer Timothy Everett Beall for Maryland wrongful death. Holloway-Lilliston died last year in a Baltimore motorcycle accident that occurred during a high-speed police chase. Now, Connie Holloway-Johnson is seeking $40 million.

Holloway-Johnson believes that her son’s death was caused by Beall, who, per an investigation report by he Maryland State Police, kept following the 27-year-old even after he was ordered to “end the chase” and he had turned off is siren and lights. Distracted by radio communication and his telephone, Beall’s police car rear-ended Holloway-Lilliston, whose body ended up bouncing off the vehicle. These findings are counter to what Beall told investigators when he said that the motorcyclist “crashed out in front of him.” No criminal charges have been filed against Beall.

Police Pursuits

Johns Hopkins University Student Who Sustained Maryland Brain Injury in Baltimore Bicycle Accident is Not Expected to Recover

April 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to an email from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Engineering Dean Nicholas Jane, 20-year-old student Nathan Krasnopoler is not expected to recover from his brain injury that he sustained when he was injured in a Baltimore bicycle accident on University Parkway last month. Krasnopoler has been in a coma since the February 26 traffic crash, when a driver abruptly turned into the marked bike lane where he was riding.

Per a statement by Krasnopoler’s family, his brain damage “appears to be permanent” and it is not likely that he will regain any “cognitive function.” They have filed a $10 million Baltimore brain injury lawsuit against Jeanette Marie Walke, the 83-year-old driver that hit him. Walke has not been charged over the Maryland bicycle accident. However, plaintiffs’ attorneys contend that she violated a number of traffic laws when the collision happened.

Per the complaint, Krasnopoler wasn’t able to prevent his bike from hitting the passenger side of Walke’s vehicle as it turned. Her car then ran over him, pinning him. In addition to his Maryland brain injury, which occurred not from the impact of the crash but because his brain was deprived of oxygen when his lungs collapsed, Krasnopoler sustained serious burns because Walke allegedly left the engine on when her car was on him. Krasnopoler also suffered eye damage, facial fractures, and broke his ribs and collarbone. He went into cardiac arrest while the ambulance was dring him to the hospital.

Preventing Maryland Car Crashes: State Senate Approves Ban on Reading Text Messages While Driving

March 9, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Two years after Maryland lawmakers banned drivers from writing text messages while operating a motor vehicle, the state Senate gave its final approval to a bill banning the reading of texts while driving. Considering that, according to the National Safety Council, 28% of traffic crashes now involve drivers that were texting or talking on a cell phone, this added restriction should hopefully help decrease the number of Maryland car accidents that happen each year.

According to Senator James Brochin, who led the charge against the reading of texts, not only does reading electronic messages require attention and time, causing a driving distraction, but also they are interactive and require the reader’s involvement. The latest bill on texts also extends the ban to drivers who are texting while stopped at traffic lights. They can, however, still use their phones to access GPS, Google maps, music, or other applications.

Dangers of Texting

Texting while driving is dangerous and can cause serious Baltimore personal injury and wrongful deaths. Nationally, a Consumer Reports National Research Center survey found that 30% of respondents under the age of 30 admitted to texting while driving. 9% of those surveyed in the older age group admitted to texting while behind the wheel.

A person who is reading a text while driving likely has one hand off the steering wheel to hold the phone or PDA device. He/she may not be thinking about the road, the other vehicles, the speed he/she is going at, or the driving conditions. It takes just seconds for a Maryland car crash to happen.

Studies find adults and teens web surf, send emails behind the wheel: Effort launched to combat distracted driving, mlive, March 7, 2011
Senate passes ban on reading texts while driving, The Baltimore Sun, March 7, 2011
House OKs ban on stoplight texting, Washington Examiner, March 3, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Map of Texting Bans, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

National Safety Council

Consumer Reports National Research Center

More Blog Posts:
Maryland Injury News: Distracted Driving Blamed for Increasing Number of Fatal Teenage Automobile Accidents, Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog, July 17, 2010
Maryland Lawmakers Want Texting While Driving Ban to Block Drivers From Reading Messages, Maryland Accident Law Blog, February 20, 2010
Preventing Maryland Car Accidents: Law Making Texting While Driving Illegal Goes Into Effect on Thursday, Maryland Accident Law Blog, September 28, 2009

The Fight Against Distracted Driving: Baltimore County Lawmaker Pushes for Tougher Cell Phone Driving Law

February 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to Maryland lawmaker James Malone, the state’s law regarding handheld cell phones while driving is not tough enough. Delegate Malone, a Democrat from Baltimore County, is supporting a bill that would make using a handheld cell phone while operating a motor vehicle a primary offense. Hopefully, such a bill will stop more people from distracted driving with their phone or PDA so that they don’t cause a Maryland car crash.

Under the current law, talking on a handheld phone while driving is a secondary offense, which means that the ban can only be enforced if the driver is being cited for another violation. Also, although drivers are banned from sending text messages, they are allowed to retrieve and read them. Malone and others also want to make the text messaging ban tougher. Sen. Jim Brochin, D-Baltimore County is sponsoring a bill in the Senate that would make it illegal to also read texts while driving.

According to the Maryland State Highway Administration, in the past five years, there have been over 380 distracted driving fatalities in the state. Distracted driving, as described by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is an epidemic. It was the cause of 5500 fatalities in the US in 2009—yet many people, when they can get away with it, continue to text, talk on the phone, send emails, surf the Internet, or play games on their cell phone while driving. Although talking on a handheld device is not safe either, at least the driver has both hands on the steering wheel.

A distracted driver can be held liable for Baltimore County personal injury or wrongful death if his/her failure to pay attention caused a catastrophic Maryland car accident. There are steps that an experienced Baltimore personal injury law firm can take to prove that a driver was distracted when the Maryland traffic crash happened. For example, there may be phone records that can be obtained to match up when the crash happened and when a call was taking place. A witness may have observed the distracted driver texting.

Md. Bill to Tighten Cell Phone Use While Driving, ABC News/AP, February 16, 2011
Distracted driving epidemic: U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood calls issue a ‘personal crusade’, Sea Coast Online, October 24, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Cellphone Laws, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Distraction.gov

Related Blog Posts:
US DOT Holds Second Annual Distracted Driving Summit in Washington DC, Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog, September 22, 2010
Maryland Injury News: Distracted Driving Blamed for Increasing Number of Fatal Teenage Automobile Accidents, Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog, July 17, 2010
Maryland Auto Injury News: Distracted Driving Blamed in Baltimore Woman’s Death following Fatal Howard County Crash, Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog, June 26, 2010

$3.1M Prince George’s County, Maryland Car Accident Verdict Awarded to a Woman Injured in a Collision with an Undercover Cop

February 4, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A Maryland jury has awarded $3.1 million to Carlisa Kent, who was injured in a 2008 Calvert County car accident involving an off-duty Prince George’s County undercover narcotics cop. Kent, 45, claimed she was injured when the county-leased car driven by Robert Edward Lee crossed the centerline, after accidentally rear-ending another vehicle, and then hit her auto.

Kent sustained a number of injuries, including fractures to her left hip, right foot, and pelvic areas. She was hospitalized for three months and spent another two months using a wheelchair. Per her Prince George’s County, Maryland personal injury lawsuit, Kent will never completely recover. Lee also sustained serious injuries.

The jury awarded Kent $3,091,291.67. However, the state’s damage caps reduce the amount to just over $2 million. Police spokesman Cpl. Evan Baxter says that Lee was violating police rules when he drove the car while outside Prince George’s County.

Looking for Ways to Decrease the Number of Maryland Car Crashes Caused by Drunk Drivers

January 31, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Baltimore personal injury lawyers represent many people that have been hurt in Maryland car crashes because a driver was drunk. It is unfortunate that despite laws that make it illegal for people to drive while intoxicated, and all the efforts to educate people about the dangers of drunk driving, people continue to die in drunk driving accidents.

This isn’t to say that the number of US drunk driving crashes hasn’t gone down. While almost 12,000 people died in auto accidents involving a drunk driver in 2008, 10,839 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in 2009. Our Rockville, injury lawyers hope that this figure continues to go down.

Last week, the transportation safety officials and advocates against drunk driving took a look at technology under development that would stop drunk drivers from driving. The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) technology (DADSS), would prevent drunk drivers from being able to operate their vehicles if they had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or greater. DADDS could be voluntarily installed in new vehicles. One DADSS system uses a breath-based approach, the other system is touch-based.

Owing Mills, Maryland Car Accidents Can Cause Hard to Detect Soft Tissue Injuries

January 25, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Involvement in a Maryland car crash can lead to all sorts of painful injuries, including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, broken bones, and organ damage. Another common injury that occurs, but can be hard to detect at first, is soft tissue injuries.

The soft tissue is generally the area that surrounds the joints or bones, such as tendons, muscles, and ligaments. Soft tissue injuries usually manifest as strains, sprains, or tears, and it may be hours or days before an Owing Mills car crash victim starts to experience symptoms, including inflammation, soreness, and persistent pain. Whiplash is one of the most common soft tissue injuries.

Unfortunately, many insurance companies will try to minimize the seriousness of this type of injury in an attempt to pay an injured person the least amount of compensation. While soft tissue injuries may not necessarily be easy to detect, the pain and discomfort experienced by the victim is very real. A person suffering from a soft tissue injury may have trouble moving his/neck. He/she may also experience chronic back pain or suffer from muscle spasms in the shoulders or serious headaches. In addition to medical care and physical therapy, a person with a soft tissue injury may have to take time off work to recover.

Because obtaining fair compensation for soft tissue injuries can be challenging, it is important that you work with a Maryland injury law firm that has the experience and commitment to helping you obtain your financial recovery.

Sprains, Strains, and Other Soft-Tissue Injuries, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Treatment for soft tissue injuries, Brain Mac

Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Maryland Motorcycle Accident Attorney Blog

Man and His 6-Year-Old Son Killed in Maryland Car Accident

January 11, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Kent Island residents Joseph Michael “Mike” Hein and his 6-year-old son Mikey have died from injuries they sustained during a Bowie, Maryland car accident on Route 5. Hein, 52, and his son were reportedly riding their 2002 Hyundai Accent on Friday evening when they crashed into a 2004 Cadillac SRX that was stopped on the road with its taillights and headlights off.

Following the Prince George’s County car accident, father and son were taken to different hospitals. The elder Hein was pronounced at Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly. Mikey, who was taken to Children’s National Medical Center, died on Monday.

The 2004 Cadillac SRX involved in the catastrophic Bowie motor vehicle crash had reportedly been stolen. Two men, Hyattsville resident Theophilia Herbert Jarvis Jr. and Lanham local Anthony Demetrius Davis, were taken into custody after they were found walking close to the collision site. They are charged with the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. They also may face charges related to the accident.

In other recent Maryland car accident news, four people were sent to the hospital on Saturday after they were involved in an Anne Arundel County auto crash involving multiple vehicles. According to police, Ryan Galliher, the 21-year-old driver of the Mercury Cougar, was driving recklessly when he crossed over the yellow line on Marley Neck Boulevard and struck a Toyota Corolla. The Toyota collided with a Nissan Murano and a Mercedes SUV, which were following behind it.

Galliher was thrown from the vehicle and admitted to Maryland Shock Trauma in serious condition. Three people in the Toyota, including a 3-year-old girl, were also taken to local hospitals. A preliminary probe into the Glen Burnie car crash indicates that driver error and excessive speed may have been factors on Galliher’s part.

Father, son killed in Bowie car crash, Gazette.net, January 11, 2011
Passengers in critical condition after head-on collision in Glen Burnie, ABC News, January 10, 2010
Related Web Resources:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Carroll County Car Accident Death Caused by Tire that Came Off Truck

January 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A woman was killed in a Carroll County auto accident on Tuesday evening when her vehicle was struck by a tire that came off a Chevrolet Silverado truck. Elisabeth Catherine Osorio died at the Westminster, Maryland traffic crash site on Route 30.

Maryland State Police say that the rear tire first struck a Mazda before hitting the windshield of Osorio’s Subaru Legacy. Her auto then went through a fence. According to the York Daily Record, Jason M. Dempsey, the truck’s driver who is from Hanover, and New Oxford resident Andrew Timothy Nulty, who was driving the Mazda, declined medical treatment.

In other recent Maryland traffic accident news, a 24-year-old female driver was killed and her two passengers sustained injuries on Friday afternoon when the truck she was driving went off Interstate 70 and overturned. The woman, Ashley Marie Matthews, was ejected from her auto and died at the Howard County car crash scene. The two male passengers, 27-year-old Brandon Gaskins, who was reportedly critically injured, and 22-year-old Trevell Brookes, were flown to Baltimore and admitted to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police are investigating whether alcohol and speed were factors in the Ellicott City, Maryland auto accident.

Meantime, police are trying to determine what caused a deadly Rockville motor vehicle accident at a local car wash. Driver error and mechanical difficulties are some of the reasons under consideration.

On the afternoon of December 29, 2010, a 1998 Jeep that employee Julio Cesar Coreas-Portillo was driving out of the car wash accelerated out of control to pin two workers beneath it. One of the victims, Gavino Euseda, died from his injuries. The other worker, Eusebio Oacan, sustained serious injuries.

Hanover woman killed in Maryland collision, York Daily Record, January 5, 2010
Airborne Tire Blamed For Fatal Highway Accident, WBALTV, January 5, 2010
Police Identify Woman Who Died in New Year’s Eve Crash in Ellicott City, Columbia Patch, January 2, 2011
Fatal crash on I-70: 1 dead, two injured, The Baltimore Sun, December 31, 2010
Police Search For Cause of Fatal Carwash Accident, MyFoxDC, December 31, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Car Accidents Overview, Justia

Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration

72-Year-Old Hagerstown Woman Dies from Maryland Car Accident on Interstate 70

November 30, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Olga Liselotte Melton, a 72-year-old Hagerstown woman, was killed in a Maryland traffic crash on Saturday night on Interstate 70. Melton was riding in the front seat of a car driven by Helmut John Frick when their vehicle struck an unattended auto at around 11:19 pm.

Also on Saturday, 25-year-old Jayant Prasad Singh was killed when the Honda Accord he was a passenger in struck a tree at around 2am. The car driver, 25-year-old Rahul Sharma, was flown to Baltimore for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries at R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

In other Maryland accident news, a Waldorf man died from injuries he sustained on Friday when his Toyota Camry hit the bed of a tow truck that was crossing US 301. The truck’s flatbed had been partially blocking a lane as the truck driver was turning right when the collision happened. The driver of the Toyota, 73-year-old Stanley Harten Wallace, was ejected from his car. He was later pronounced dead.