Injuries to Minors

Maryland Senate Votes for Text Messaging While Driving Ban

March 19, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

This week, the Maryland Senate approved by a 43 to 4 vote a bill banning drivers from text messaging whenever they are operating their motor vehicles. If the bill becomes law, it would make reading, composing, sending, or receiving text messages a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $500 fine. Maryland would also join a growing list of states and jurisdictions, including Virginia and Washington DC, that are banning text messaging—whether on a cell phone, PDA, or IPod Touch or another device—while operating a motor vehicle.

Sending short messages via cell phone or other electronic devices is a bad habit that has grown more popular in recent years—especially among younger, more inexperienced drivers. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, one of its studies last year found that about 50% of young drivers, ages 18 – 24, text message while driving. The study found that among drivers ages 45 and older, less than 5% engaged in text messaging while operating a motor vehicle.

Text messaging is a type of distracted driving, and like all other forms of distracted driving, including talking on a handheld cellular phone, applying making, or reading the newspaper, can lead to deadly auto accidents. ABC News says that a 2006 study showed that 65% of near-motor vehicle collisions and 80% of auto crashes occur because of distracted driving.

For example, one Maryland child lost her right forearm in a catastrophic bus accident that occurred while the bus driver was texting on his cell phone. 30 people were injured in this Maryland motor vehicle accident. In another traffic accident, a 26-year-old woman died last year in a truck accident when she was struck by a tractor-trailer while the truck driver had been texting.

These kinds of catastrophic motor vehicle collisions could have been avoided if the drivers had not been engaged in distracted driving.

Md. Is Latest State to Target Text Messaging by Drivers, Washington Post, March 18, 2009
Texting While Driving Could Spell Trouble, ABC News, May 8, 2007
Driving and Dialing Bus Drivers May Case Accidents, ABC News, Feb 7, 2007
Related Web Resources:

Examination of Maryland Senate Bill 98 (PDF)

Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

AAA Says Most Teen Driving Accident Victims are Other Motorists, Vehicle Occupants, and Pedestrians

March 2, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says most of the victims killed in teen driving accidents are people other than the teen drivers. The AAA compiled this information based on its analysis of 10 years of crash information.

According to its findings:

• Between 1998 and 2007, 28,138 victims died in teen (Ages 15 – 17) driving accidents in the United States.
• Between 1995 and 2004, 30,917 people were killed in teen driving accidents.
• Approximately 1/3 of fatalities are the teen drivers, ages 15 to 17.

• Almost 2/3rd of the other teen driving accident victims are the passengers in the vehicle, other vehicle occupants, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists.

AAA Western and Central New York President and CEO Tom Chestnut says that these findings show how important teen driving safety is not just to the teenagers but to everyone involved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the leading causes of teen driving deaths and accidents include:

• Driver inexperience
• Immaturity
• Speeding
• Drunk driving
• Failing to wear a seat belt
• Talking on the cell phone
• Listening to loud music
• Talking to other teenagers in the vehicle
• Driving at night
• Drug use
• Drowsy driving
The NHTSA recommends ways to reduce motor vehicle accidents involving teen drivers including:
• Eliminating teen access to alcohol.

• Graduated driver’s licensing program.

Maryland had strict driving laws for teenagers including:
• A teen driver must have a provisional license for six months before he or she can apply for a provisional license.
• A Maryland teen driver must undergo at least 60 hours of driving practice with someone 21-years-old or older who has had a driver’s license for at least 3 years.

• 10 of the practice driving hours must happen at night.

Teen crashes more likely to kill others, WIVB.com, March 2, 2009
Maryland Teen Driving Laws, About.com
Related Web Resources:

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Maryland Website for Parents of Young Drivers

Dad Files $200 Million Washington DC Personal Injury Lawsuit Accusing Lead in Water of Causing Twins’ Lead-Related Health Issues

February 18, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Washington DC, the father of eight-year-old twin boys is suing the DC Water and Sewer Authority for $200 million. John Parkhurst says that his children have learning and behavioral problems because they were affected by the high levels of lead present in the city’s waters from 2001 through 2004. Parkhurst, who filed his personal injury case in DC Superior Court, hopes that the case will become a class-action lawsuit.

According to the DC injuries to minors lawsuit, when his sons were babies they were fed formula and food that were mixed with tap water. At age 2, the boys had a medical checkup that revealed signs of lead poisoning. Parkhurst’s complaint accuses WASA officials of concealing the fact that the elevated levels of lead in DC waters would eventually prove to be a serious health concern.

Just this year, a new study found that about 42,000 District children were exposed to high levels of lead in the city’s tap water from 2000 to 2003. Many of these children would have been under 3 years of age or in their mothers’ wombs at the time.

New Maryland Drunk Driving Bills Focus on Underage Drivers and Repeat Offenders

February 12, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Maryland, there is a new bill that proposes the automatic six-month driver’s license suspension of any underage driver who is convicted of the illegal possession of alcohol. It would also then take the offender six more months than usual to get his or her license back. According to Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pederson, there are studies that indicate that “use and lose” laws compel young drivers to change their behavior so they don’t risk losing their driving privileges.

Another bill addresses the issue of Probation Before Judgment, which lets someone avoid a conviction and accompanying penalty points if he or she fulfills the terms of probation or the required treatment. The proposal would let people arrested and charged with drunk driving to be eligible for probation before a court judgment every 10 years rather than the current every 5 years.

A third bill calls for making it mandatory for Maryland police to ask any driver involved in a catastrophic or fatal auto crash to take a drunk driving test. This information would not be admissible in court but it would allow researchers to determine the role alcohol or drugs play in deadly motor vehicle accidents. Motorists, however, would not be punished for refusing to take the test. Currently, law enforcement officers are supposed to conduct drunk driving tests following serious auto accidents only when they believe a motorist was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

According to Washington Regional Alcohol Program President Kurt Erickson, about 220 people a year died in drunk driving accidents between 2004 and 2007.

Drunk driving is a leading cause of motor vehicle deaths in the United States. The more state and federal governments can do to discourage people from getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs the better.

In the event that you or someone you love was injured by a Maryland drunk driver, you may be entitled to receive personal injury compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, and other losses.

Safety Activists Hopeful About Drunken Driving Bills, Washington Post, February 12, 2009

Maryland Drunk Driving Fines and Penalties

Related Web Resources:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Maryland General Assembly

As Maryland Motor Vehicle Collision Splits Car in Half, One Montgomery County Student Dies and The Other Teen is Critically Injured

February 2, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a deadly Maryland motor vehicle crash that left the vehicle split in two, one Montgomery County high school student is dead and the other has serious injuries. The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon in Rockville.

The driver of the vehicle, 17-year-old Silver Springs resident Johvanny Garmendez, reportedly lost control of the vehicle, which raced down a hill and struck a tree. Garmendez survived the Maryland auto crash with critical injuries. His passenger, 17-year-old Rockville resident Thiago Andrade, was thrown from the 2003 Toyota Camry and pronounced dead at the accident site.

The Camry they were riding in split into two sections after striking a tree. Both parts rolled down the hill separately before landing in an apartment complex parking lot. Another car in the lot was damaged.

Police are trying to determine the cause of the auto crash. According to witnesses, the vehicle was driving at about 45 mph above the speed limit.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2007 Young Drivers (Ages 15 – 20) Traffic Safety Facts

• 6,982 young drivers were involved in auto accidents where there was at least one fatality.
• 3,174 young drivers died in auto accidents.
• 252,000 others were injured.
• 1,631,000 young drivers were involved in auto crashes in which the police became involved.

• 4% of young drivers involved in auto accidents resulting in injuries had been drinking.

Driver distraction, drunk driving, and driver inexperience are just some reasons why young drivers are involved in auto accidents.

According to the Choose Safety for Life Web Site:
• Nearly 20,000 Maryland auto accidents in 2006 involved young drivers.

• That same year, there were 102 auto accidents involving young Maryland drivers that resulted in fatalities.

1 Student Killed, 1 Hurt In Crash That Halved Car, Washington Post, February 2, 2009
Young Drivers, Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA
Young Drivers, Choose Safety for Life
Related Web Resources:
Latest on New Driver Issues, NHTSA
Maryland Teen Drivers, DMV.org

Hundreds of Washington DC Children May Have Been Exposed to High Levels of Lead in City’s Tap Water

January 27, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A new peer-reviewed study to be published in the Environmental Science and Technology raises worries that some 42,000 Washington DC kids, now ages 4 to 9, may have been exposed to high levels of lead during the 2001 water crisis. Many of these children were two years of age or in their mothers’ wombs at that time. According to experts, toddlers and fetuses are most at risk of suffering permanent brain damage from lead poisoning.

The study is based on findings from an analysis of thousands of kids’ blood tests from 2000 to 2003. In some DC neighborhoods, the number of infants and toddlers with blood-lead concentrations that could lead to developmental delays and a permanently lowered IQ more than doubled after record breaking levels of lead began entering the city’s tap water supply.

The addition of a new chemical to the water treatment is what caused the increase in lead concentration. In 2003, DC residents were warned about this problem and were advised to use alternative sources of drinking water.

The new study’s results are counter to what federal and DC officials have said since 2004 when they admitted that although the levels of lead in the city’s water were very high, they did not think that this would significantly impact people. Now, public health officials are claiming that they just didn’t have the information at the time to show that there could be a problem.

According to studies, lead poisoning can cause kids to experience a decrease in IQ, as well as exhibit aggressiveness. One reason that babies in the womb and toddlers are highly succepetable to injuries from lead poisoning is that their brains are not yet fully developed. They can also more easily absorb and ingest more toxic metal than older children and adults.

According to FamilyDoctor.org:

• Excessive levels of lead in a child’s body can lead to problems with kidneys, brain, or bone marrow.

• Lead poisoning can lead to behavioral problems, attention difficulties, learning problems, and a drop in IQ.

High Lead Levels Found in D.C. Kids, Washington Post, January 27, 2009
Lead Poisoning in Children, FamilyDoctor.org
Related Web Resources:

Environmental Science and Technology

Kids’ Pages, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Family Wins $6.5 Million Birthing Malpractice Settlement for Son’s Brain Injury

January 17, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family of a 7-year-old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy because of a brain injury he allegedly sustained during his birth will receive a $6.5 million medical malpractice settlement. Roberto Morales Jr. was born at Provena Mercy Medical Center on April 7, 2001.

According to the family’s medical malpractice lawyers, the boy’s attending obstetrician and labor and delivery nurse were negligent when they allegedly failed to respond fast enough to his decreasing heart rate and reduced oxygen flow after his mother was administered the drug Pitocin. Following his birth, Morales was flown to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where he stayed for a month. The medical malpractice defendants were Provena Medical Center, Dreyer Medical Group Ltd, Dreyer Clinic Inc., Advocate Health Care Network, and obstetrician Judson Jones.

Birthing Malpractice

Court of Appeals of Maryland to Hear Lead-Paint Lawsuit

December 24, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

This year, the Court of Appeals of Maryland will hear Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc., a lead-paint lawsuit involving serious injuries to a now 13-year-old girl. In 2007, a Baltimore jury issued a Maryland personal injury verdict ordering the family’s landlord to pay the family of Kelly Green $2.3 million. Because of the state’s non-economic damages statutory cap, however, the judge that presided over the premises liability trial lowered the award to $515,000.

The case continues a years-long battle over the legitimacy of Maryland’s cap, which is $710,000 for claims filed after October 1, 2008. Claims filed before then have a non-economic damages cap of $695,000. Also at issue is whether the cap is preventing children who are seriously injured because of exposure to lead paint from recovering more compensation.

For example, in 2006, two children who experienced lead poisoning were awarded $7 million by a jury. Due to the non-economic damages cap, that part was lowered to $700,000. In 2003, a jury awarded two other kids $2.2 million for non-economic damages, which were also reduced because of the Maryland cap.

Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc.

In this latest case, Celestine Green was pregnant with Kelly when she moved into a residence on Montpelier street beginning January 1995. As a young child, Kelly would eat chips of lead paint off her home’s walls.

At 10 months, Kelly’s lead level was already just one unit below the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “action level” of 10. In December 2006, her lead level readings registered at 12 and 15.

Kelly’s family claims that the girl has physical and mental impairments, as well as a decreased IQ, because of her exposure to lead paint. There is also the chance that if she has kids, they could be poisoned by the lead in her body.

Lead Paint Exposure

Exposure to lead paint can lead to serious injuries if the paint is ingested. Kids are not only susceptible to lead paint that can be found on older structures, but high levels of lead were recently discovered in many consumer products, including furniture and toys. Millions of toys and other products with high levels of lead have been recalled to prevent kids from becoming the victims of lead poisoning.

Lead-paint case the latest battleground in war over limit on non-economic damages, Maryland Daily Record, December 21, 2008
Related Web Resources:

Court of Appeals of Maryland

Lead Poisoning in Children, Family Doctor
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Maryland Boy is Almost Strangled to Death by Seat Belt

December 17, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 5-year-old Maryland boy sustained critical injuries after the seat belt he was using got caught around his neck. The incident occurred in Prince George’s County on I-95 at around 6p on Monday evening. The child, DeAndre Harris, is in very serious condition at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC.

A Maryland State Police trooper arrived at the scene after DeAndre’s mother, Yuko Harris, contacted 911. The trooper used a knife to cut the seat belt and administered CPR to DeAndre, who did not have a pulse. His heart started beating again while he was being transported to Laurel Hospital. He was later flow to the District.

Maryland State Police have impounded Harris’s vehicle, a Honda CRV. They do not know how the seat belt became wrapped around the 5-year-old’s neck to cut off his circulation. Although DeAndre is just 5, he was not sitting in a booster seat, which is required for kids under age 8 when riding in motor vehicles.

Seat Belt Injuries

Seat belts are supposed to keep a vehicle occupant securely fastened in the event of an auto crash. While seat belt injuries can occur as a result of user error, there are those injuries that can arise because of a defect in the seat belt’s design or an error that occurred during manufacturing. Such defects can pose a serious injury hazard during a motor vehicle crash and be grounds for a products liability claim or wrongful death lawsuit.

Examples of seat belt defects include:

• Latching defects
• Broken or cracked buckle release buttons
• Too much seat belt slack
• Webbing defects
• Skip lock defects

Seat belts can pose a strangulation hazard if used incorrectly or made defectively.

Boy, 5, is critical after seat belt cuts off breathing, Baltimore Sun, December 16, 2008
Boy, 5, Riding With Family on I-95 Is Critically Injured by Seat Belt, Washington Post, December 7, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Laws, Maryland State Highway Administration

Teen Car Accidents May Be Reduced with Later School Start Time, Says Study

December 16, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A new study shows that starting the school day a little later may reduce the chances of teen car crashes, personal injuries, and death. A later school start time allows teens to sleep more in the morning, which, researchers say, leads to more alert driving.

By moving the beginning of classes at local high schools by 1 hour from 7:30 am to 8:30 am, researches saw a 16.5% drop in teen auto accident rates.

Psychologist Fred Danner, who coauthored the study, says adolescents are biologically programmed to stay awake an hour later every night. Danner says teens in general need 8-9 hours of sleep. If teens gets an hour less sleep during school nights, by the week’s end, they can be as impaired as if they had stayed awake for 24 hours in a row.

The study surveyed 10,000 kids, in grades 6 through 12, to determine sleep habits, auto accidents, and daytime functioning. Surveys were conducted twice. In 1998, when the school start time was at 7:30am and in 1999, when school would start at 8:30am. The study appears this week in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

According to the National Sleep Foundation:

• Driver fatigue is the cause of 100,000 motor vehicle crashes each year.
• More than 50% of the drivers involved in these crashes are young drivers, ages 16 to 25.
• 85% of teenagers get less than 8 ½ hours of sleep each night.
• Drowsy driving after not having slept for 18 hours is the equivalent of drunk driving with a BAC of .08% or more.

• Not getting enough sleep can impair a person’s ability to make decisions, think clearly, and pay attention. It can also impair one’s reflexes.

A 2006 survey found that 51% of high school students have driven a motor vehicle when they were drowsy. Out of 262 college students that were surveyed, 17% of them admitted to falling asleep while driving.

Later School Start Time Cuts Teens’ Car Crash Risks, Washington Post, December 15, 2008

National Sleep Foundation

Related Web Resources:

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

NHTSA