Pedestrian Accident

One Pedestrian Dead in Maryland Hit-and-Run Accident Involving Multiple Vehicles

December 21, 2022 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A driver who is involved in a car accident is required to remain on the scene in the state of Maryland, and fleeing the scene of an accident can result in penalties. Hit-and-run accidents may happen for a variety of reasons, including due to a driver being uninsured. According to a recent news report, a 23-year-old male died after a pedestrian hit-and-run crash. Interstate 95 in Maryland was closed for over four hours as a result of the accident. A man and a woman passenger parked on the side of the road and were having a discussion outside of their vehicle. During the conversation, the woman entered the highway and the man attempted to pull her back from the road. While in the roadway, the male was struck by a Nissan Altima. The Nissan Altima fled the scene. While laying injured on the road, a tractor-trailer also struck the male but failed to stop their vehicle. Soon after, a Honda CRV additionally struck the male and stopped on the shoulder to call 911.

Penalties for Hit-and-Run Drivers

Pursuant to Maryland law, leaving the scene of an accident that results in serious bodily injury is a felony that is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. However, if the hit-and-run accident results in death and the driver was found to have reasonably known that the accident caused death, perpetrators can face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Additionally, hit-and-run accidents in Maryland can lead to 8 to 12 points on a driver’s license.

Preventative Steps to Take as Pedestrian Accidents Increase During Summer Months

July 5, 2022 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

On a typical day, pedestrians share the roads with drivers and bikers and use designated traffic signals to safely get around. Pedestrians face a unique risk as they are commuting, a risk that involves vehicles that weigh on average, around 4,156 pounds. In the summer, this risk may increase due to various factors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 7,000 pedestrians were killed in crashes involving motor vehicles in 2020. That equates to about one death every 75 minutes. Further, the CDC reports that one in six people who died in crashes in 2020 were pedestrians.

Pedestrian accidents tend to increase in the summer, as more people find themselves out walking to enjoy the nicer weather. In addition, drivers and pedestrians alike may find that there is increased construction occurring during the summer, which may force pedestrians to maneuver away from sidewalks and closer to oncoming traffic. As summer kicks off, it is important to think ahead about steps pedestrians can take to keep themselves as safe as possible.

How Can Pedestrians Stay Safe?

As a pedestrian, it is important to take certain steps to ensure your safety. This includes wearing a reflective vest when walking at night to increase visibility, crossing streets at designated crosswalks, walking on a sidewalk or path instead of the road, avoiding the use of electronic devices including cell phones and earbuds, and avoiding walking if under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you are injured in a pedestrian accident, it is important to seek any medical attention that may be needed. If possible, it is also important to get the contact information and insurance information of the driver involved in the crash and to get contact information from any witnesses.

Understanding Maryland Wrongful Death Lawsuits and Survival Claims

December 16, 2021 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

No one is ever ready to lose a loved one, especially not to an unexpected and sudden accident. When you lose a loved one out of the blue because of another party’s negligence or recklessness, it can be even more painful and frustrating, because it likely should not have happened in the first place.

According to a recent local news report, a pedestrian died after being hit unexpectedly in an accident. Maryland Transportation Authority Police reported that the victim, an unidentified man, died from his injuries at the scene. The accident remains under investigation as local authorities work to identify the party responsible for causing the accident and fleeing the scene.

In Maryland, if an accident like the one described above takes place and involves you losing a loved one, it is likely that you have grounds to bring a wrongful death or survival claim. Under Maryland law, a wrongful death takes place when it is caused by a particular act or neglect which would have allowed the deceased to bring a claim to recover damages if the death had not happened.

Maryland Man Killed After Car Crashes into His Home

October 17, 2021 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While individuals are more likely to get into a car or truck accident while they are driving, there is the possibility of getting injured by a car in other situations. Whether they are hurt in a vehicle or in their home, after someone is hurt in an accident, they can bring a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible party. In doing so, the plaintiff hopes to receive damages—to help them both financially and emotionally recover. But damages greatly widely depending on the facts of the case and where the case is filed.

A 68-year-old Maryland man was recently killed in his home when a pick-up truck crashed into his house. The man was sleeping in a chair in his living room when the truck crashed through the house and pushed him through the wall. Before crashing into the house, the pick-up truck veered off the road and struck a utility pole. The police are investigating the accident.

In cases like the one above, either an injured person or his family—if he is killed—can pursue monetary damages by bringing a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident. Every state differs in the total amount of damages a victim can receive, along with the types of damages a jury can award the plaintiff.

Establishing the “Duty” Element of a Maryland Personal Injury Case

August 19, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In order to hold another person or entity liable for injuries sustained in a Maryland accident, the defendant must have owed a duty to the plaintiff to protect the plaintiff from the harm the plaintiff suffered. For example, a person who falls on a sidewalk generally cannot hold another passerby liable for the injuries from the fall because the passerby was not involved in the fall and did not owe a duty to prevent the person’s fall or even to render aid to the person. However, for example, the city might be liable for the person’s injuries if it failed to repair the sidewalk. In such a case, the city might have had a duty to repair the sidewalk if it was made aware of the sidewalk’s dangerous condition, and may have failed to meet its duty by failing to take any action.

Under Maryland law, duty is characterized as an obligation to meet a certain standard of conduct towards another. In considering whether a defendant owed a duty to a plaintiff in a certain scenario, courts will consider the relationship between the defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s injury and whether the harm the plaintiff suffered was foreseeable, among other things. A recent decision from another state appeals court illustrates the limits of a hotel’s duty to a guest in one scenario.

In that case, the plaintiff brought a wrongful death claim against the hotel on behalf of their deceased loved one. Evidently, the deceased accident victim was a guest at the hotel, which offered guests a free golf cart service to take guests around the property. Per the hotel’s policy, the golf cart would cross a local public road next to the hotel to drop guests off on the other side but otherwise did not travel on public roads. One night, the accident victim asked a bellman to give him a ride in the golf cart, and asked to go to a grocery store which was across a highway. Per the hotel’s policy, the bellman did not take the decedent to the store and instead dropped him off on the other side of the public road. The decedent was required to cross the highway to get to the store and while waiting to cross on foot, he was hit by a car and later died.

Pursuing Justice after a Fatal Maryland Pedestrian Accident

July 4, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Many car accidents result in injury to one or more of the drivers or passengers involved in the accident. However, few accidents are more likely to cause serious injury or death than Maryland pedestrian accidents. Indeed, over the past five years, there has been an average of 3,227 Maryland pedestrian accidents each year, resulting in over 2,800 injuries and 110 fatalities annually.

Contrary to what many believe, in most accidents involving pedestrians, the pedestrian is not at fault. More often, it is the motorist whose negligence causes the accident. Below are some interesting facts according to official Maryland government statistics:

30% of pedestrian accidents resulting in injury occur while the pedestrian is crossing at a marked crosswalk.

Court Allows Plaintiff to Pursue Claim for Punitive Damages in Case Involving Parking Lot Accident

December 15, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, an appellate court in Kansas issued a written opinion in a personal injury case discussing when a plaintiff is permitted to pursue a claim of punitive damages against a defendant. The case is instructive to Maryland personal injury claimants considering a claim against a defendant because it provides insight into how courts view claims for punitive damages and when such claims may be appropriate.

The Facts of the Case

The plaintiff was a high-school student who was the manager of the school’s baseball team. The team was preparing to board a bus to a rival school when the defendant, a player on the team, decided he wanted to move his car closer to where the bus was planning on dropping the students off.

As the defendant was parking his car, he saw the plaintiff walking in the parking lot. He pulled up slowly behind the plaintiff as though he was going to hit her with his truck. The plaintiff attempted to move out of the way, but the truck ran over both of her feet. The plaintiff fell to the ground, and another student lifted the plaintiff into the defendant’s truck. The plaintiff claims that the defendant told her that he was sorry and that he only meant to lightly bump her with the truck. The defendant denied making the statement, claiming that he struck the plaintiff as he was trying to park.

Court Rules in Plaintiff’s Favor in Traffic Accident Occurring Near School Grounds

November 21, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a Connecticut appellate court issued a written opinion in a premises liability case brought by a student and his parents against the student’s high school. In the case, Strycharz v. Cady, the appellate court held that the lower court improperly found that governmental immunity protected the assistant principals, who had a non-discretionary, ministerial duty to assign an adult to monitor the entrance to the school’s parking lot. As a result of the court’s decision, the plaintiffs’ case will proceed toward trial against the assistant principals.

The Facts of the Case

Strycharz was a student at Bacon Academy. After being bussed to school, Strycharz and another student briefly left the school grounds to go smoke a cigarette. However, on the way across the busy street, Strycharz was struck by a passing vehicle driven by another student.

Strycharz and his family filed a personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle as well as several administrators at the school. He claimed that the administrators had a duty to assign a school employee to monitor the school’s entrance, since it was known to be very busy in the morning.

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.

University of Maryland Study Shows Increased Risk of Pedestrian Injuries with Electronics Use

April 11, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center has found that the number of pedestrians killed or injured in traffic accidents while wearing headphones tripled over a six-year period beginning in 2004. The researchers examined records of accident reports maintained by online news archives like Google and Westlaw, as well as data obtained from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). The study was published in the January 16, 2012 online edition of the medical journal Injury Prevention.

The study identified 116 reported injuries or fatalities of pedestrians wearing headphones. They found that sixty-eight percent of the victims were male. Sixty-seven percent were under thirty years old. Fifty-five percent of the vehicles involved were trains, while most of the rest were automobiles. Only seventy-four percent of the reports explicitly stated that the victim was wearing headphones at the time of the accident. The remainder of the reports noted that the vehicle honked or sounded some sort of warning before the accident, suggesting that the pedestrian could not hear the warning. Seventy percent of the pedestrian accidents reviewed by the researchers resulted in the pedestrian’s death.

The number of pedestrians injured or killed in traffic or train accidents while wearing headphones tripled during the time period reviewed by the researchers. They found that sixteen injuries or deaths occurred in 2004, the first year reviewed. The last year reviewed, covering the period from 2010 to 2011, had forty-seven such accidents.

Two primary risks associated with headphone use by pedestrians became clear from the statistics. First is the risk of distraction, causing a pedestrian not to notice an imminent threat like an approaching car or train. The other is what the authors called “sensory deprivation,” or the inability of the pedestrian to hear an approaching vehicle or its warning sounds. The original inspiration for the study was reportedly the case of a Maryland teen who died after being struck by a train while crossing the tracks. Reports indicated the teen was wearing headphones and did not respond to warning sounds.