Maryland Accident Law Blog

Peter Pan Peanut Butter And Great Value Peant Butter Recall Leads To Personal Injury Lawsuits

March 21, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

More than 70 people have joined together to sue ConAgra Foods for personal injury. ConAgra is the packaged food company that produces some of the jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter. Other individual lawsuits are also pending.

ConAgra has agreed to a recall of the jars of peanut butter, but says that the connection between its products and a salmonella outbreak in its peanut butter jars has not been proven.

The Food and Drug Administration is telling anyone who has a jar of Great Value (product code 2111) or Peter Pan peanut butter that has been purchased anytime since October 2004 to throw the peanut butter out.

Only one plant in Georgia is said to have been the cause of the salmonella-infected peanut butter jars. ConAgra is asking people who throw out their jars of peanut butter to keep the lids for a full refund.

Every year, about 50,000 salmonella infection cases are reported, with 600 people dying from salmonella poisoning. Children are especially susceptible to the illness because of their underdeveloped immune system, and kids ages 4 and under make up 30% of reported salmonella incidents.

A foodborne sickness that comes from the salmonella bacteria in animals, salmonella infection can be transmitted in water, soil, raw meats, eggs, and animal feces. Vomiting, fever, headaches, abdominal cramps, diarrhea (sometimes with blood), and other symptoms can occur in kids with salmonella if they aren’t treated. Later symptoms can include a “rose spotted” skin rash, an enlarged liver or spleen, and a stronger chance of becoming ill with pneumonia or meningitis.

If you have been injured or become ill because of a manufactured product, you may be able to file a products liability claim. A manufacturer, producer, or seller can be held liable in a product liability lawsuit for placing a defective or dangerous product into the marketplace and making available it available to consumers.

In products liability claims, products can refer to many kinds of products, including:
• Food
• Medical tools
• Construction tools
• Machines
• Medicines
• Weapons
• Toys
• Trucks
• Cars
• Bicycles
• Clothes
• Toxic substances
• Household appliances
• Household products
• Motorcycles

Legal grounds for filing a product liability claim after someone has been injured or killed because of a dangerous product can include:

• Negligence in design, manufacturing, testing, or marketing
• Breach of warranty if seller did not uphold their warranty guarantee
• Misrepresentation that a product is other than what it is or less dangerous than it is—resulting in injury or death by consumers
• Strict liability, holding the manufacturer or the seller liable for the injuries caused by the product defect

Two Pedestrians Are Struck By A Driver In Hit And Run Accident On Washington D.C.’s Wisconsin Avenue

March 16, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Washington D.C., A couple in their 20’s were taken to a local hospital last night, after they were struck by a light blue 4-door Honda Accord while they were crossing Wisconsin Avenue close to Tenley Circle. The impact of the car collision threw one of the victims 50 feet. Witnesses say that the driver of the Honda fled on foot.

Pedestrians who are injured on the road because a driver behaved negligently should speak to a personal injury lawyer right away and find out if they have grounds to file a claim for their injuries.

A Few Pedestrian Accident Statistics:

• 1 pedestrian is killed every 111 minutes in a traffic crash
• A pedestrian is injured every eight minutes in a traffic accident
• Nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed in 2003

According to U.S. government statistics, there are close to nearly 700,000 hit and run cases annually.

A hit and run accident is an accident where the party that caused the motor vehicle accident did not stop at the accident scene but proceeded to drive or walk off. By law, people involved in car accidents or any other kind of motor vehicle accident are obligated to stop and exchange pertinent driver, vehicle, and contact information. If a driver hits a parked vehicle, he or she is required to take down any information (vehicle license number, car model, type of damage) about the car and leave his or her own details.

If a hit and run driver is later apprehended, he or she may have to face criminal penalties, as well as become the defendant of a personal injury lawsuit.

The victim filing a personal injury claim may demand compensatory damages, such as lost wages, medical costs, and other related or resulting expenses. Punitive damages—if it appears that the negligent party acted with malice or intent—may also become a factor in a personal injury lawsuit.

Over Two Dozen People Injured In Kensington, Maryland As Two Buses Collide

March 14, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Montgomery County Police are reporting a two-bus collision after a Ride On Bus rear-ended a Metrobus on Viers Mill Road. More than two dozen people were hurt—most of the injuries reportedly minor.

More than two dozen people were hurt Monday morning after two buses collided in Kensington, Maryland.

Bus Accidents and Personal Injury

Individuals who have been injured in a bus accident may be eligible to file a personal injury claim if the accident occurred because another party was negligent.

Some factors that can lead to bus accidents:

• Poor road conditions
• Driving under the influence
• Negligent driving
• Mechanical problems
• Faulty breaks

Injuries can range from minor scratches to broken bones, severed limbs, head injuries, burn injuries, and even death. Emotional trauma can be another effect from a bus accident.

Bus passengers, passengers in vehicles involved in a bus collision, and pedestrians who have been injured in a bus accident should contact an attorney right away. It is important that you have your own representation before speaking to the other party and their insurance company. An experienced personal injury lawyer can tell you how much compensation you should claim to cover all your recovery costs.

Collecting recovery from a bus accident can be more complicated than when the victim has been injured in an accident by a negligent car driver or motorcycle rider. Bus driver are subject to certain regulations and standards that they must uphold on the road. We can help you determine whether a bus driver neglected to protect his or her passengers by not exercising the utmost care when driving. We will also explore all avenues of recovery. There may be instances where the bus company and certain government entities may also be held liable.

In Ocean City Fire, Two Investigators Confirm The Identities Of Two Victims

March 12, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Investigators In Ocean City, Maryland say that they have positively identified two of the people who were killed when a mobile home on 135th street caught fire. William Alascio, 49, and Jacqueline Robusto, 44. Robusto was ID’d after a fingerprint comparison conducted by the Maryland State Fire Marshall’s Office. Alascio’s identity was verified using medical records. Both of them lived in the mobile home.

An autopsy report is pending, and there will also be a toxicology report.

The U.S. Fire Administration says mobile and manufactured homes come with certain risks. Statistically, there is a higher fire death rate, compared to other kinds of houses, for every 100 manufactured homes. One factor leading to this is that manufactured homes often don’t have smoke alarms.

Injury and death because of fire can have life altering consequences for survivors who have been seriously injured, as well as their families. The burn injuries that result from a fire can be severe, and loss of a loved one in a fire can be very traumatic.

The personal injury law firm of Lebowitz & Mzhen handles personal injury cases for victims of fires in Maryland and the Washington D.C. area. We will work with you to determine the cause and source of the fire, figure out the amount of damages to the property, as well as take into account the extent of the victim’s injuries, including the loss of life. We will look for evidence of arson, landlord or neighbor negligence, negligence when setting up the electrical system, and negligence in following fire regulations when designing the home. We will also examine photographic evidence.

It is important that you speak with a personal injury attorney right away so that he or she can assess the extent of the injuries and damages while the physical evidence is still available.

Each year, nearly 2.5 million people sustain burn injuries, with thousands of these burn victims dying and close to a million of them sustaining significant or permanent injuries and disabilities. For survivors of a burn accident, the recovery period can be long and painful.

The Doe Report offers some facts and statistics about burn injuries:

Burn is defined as tissue damage caused by a variety of agents, such as heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or nuclear radiation. Most common are burns caused by scalds, building fires, and flammable liquids and gases.

• First-degree burns affect only the outer layer (called the epidermis) of the skin.

• Second-degree burns damage the epidermis and the layer beneath it (called the dermis).

• Third-degree burns involve damage or complete destruction of the skin to its full depth and damage to underlying tissues. People who experience such burns often require skin grafting.

• The swelling and blistering characteristic of burns are caused by the loss of fluid from damaged blood vessels.

• In severe cases, such fluid loss can cause shock, requiring immediate transfusion of the patient with blood or a physiological salt solution to restore adequate fluid levels to maintain blood pressure.

• Burns often lead to infection, due to damage to the skin’s protective barrier. In many cases, topical antibiotics (creams or ointments applied to the skin) can prevent or treat such infection. The three topical antibiotics that are most widely used are silver sulfadiazene cream, mafenide acetate cream, and silver nitrate.

• According to the American Burn Association, each year in the United States, 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention.

• Approximately 50,000 of these require hospitalization, and roughly half of those burn patients are admitted to a specialized burn unit.

• Each year, approximately 4,500 of these people die.

• Up to 10,000 people in the United States die every year of burn-related infections; pneumonia is the most common infectious complication among hospitalized burn patients.

• Twenty years ago, burns covering half the body were routinely fatal; today, patients with burns covering 90 percent of the body can survive (but often with permanent impairments).

• Practices that have contributed to this improvement include advances in resuscitation, wound cleaning and follow-up care, nutritional support, and infection control.

• Grafting with natural or artificial materials can also speed the healing process.

• Complications following injury, shock, or burns may occur long after the initial incident, often when the patient is in an intensive care unit (ICU). Many ICU patients face similar medical problems regardless of the reason for their admission into the unit.

• The leading causes of death in ICUs are multiple organ system dysfunction, in which several of the body’s organs fail at once, and adult respiratory distress syndrome, in which the lungs in particular fail. In both conditions, the organs of the body are ravaged by the patient’s own immune system, leading to severe, debilitating, and uncontrolled inflammation.

• Improving methods of wound healing and tissue repair offers tremendous opportunities to enhance the quality of life for trauma and burn patients, and may also help to reduce health care costs.

• Scientists are investigating ways to treat wounds caused by trauma, burns, or surgical interventions with biological agents (e.g. growth factors) or new drugs.

Smithsburg Father And His Teenage Daughter Die In Hit-And-Run Accident In Maryland

March 9, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nicholas Sabath and his 17-year-old daughter Sylvia were killed last Wednesday night on Leitersburg Pike near Antietam Creek Bridge.

According to police, Sabath was driving westbound on Md 60 in a 1989 Honda Accord when he tried to avoid a Pontiac Sunfire that crossed the center line east of Lehman. Sabath lost control of the car and drove into the path of a 1992 Jeep Wrangler driven by Hagerstown resident John C. Pangborn, 19, who was headed eastward.

Pangborn was treated at Washington County Hospital for injuries.

Police say that the driver of the dark blue Pontiac Sunfire, which fled the accident scene, caused the car collision.

A hit and run charge is a very serious charge—especially if a person has been injured as a result.

Hit and Run Laws in Maryland

§ 20-102. Driver to remain at scene – Accidents resulting in bodily injury or death.

(a) The driver of each vehicle involved in an accident that results in bodily injury to or death of another person immediately shall stop the vehicle as close as possible to the scene of the accident, without obstructing traffic more than necessary.

(b) The driver of each vehicle involved in an accident that results in bodily injury to or death of another person immediately shall return to and remain at the scene of the accident until the driver has complied with § 20-104 of this title.

[An. Code 1957, art. 661/2, § 10-102; 1977, ch. 14, § 2; 1986, ch. 472, § 1; 1988, ch. 6, § 1; 1991, ch. 346, § 1; 1998, ch. 781; 2001, ch. 483; 2002, chs. 461, 462.] § 27-113. Violation of § 20-102 of this article.
(a) Serious bodily injury defined.- in this section, “serious bodily injury” means an injury that:
(1) Creates a substantial risk of death;
(2) Causes serious permanent or serious protracted disfigurement;
(3) Causes serious permanent or serious protracted loss of the function of any body part, organ, or mental faculty; or

(4) Causes serious permanent or serious protracted impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

(b) Penalty for serious bodily injury.- A person who violates § 20-102 of this article (“Driver to remain at scene – Accident resulting in bodily injury or death”) and who knew or reasonably should have known that the accident might result in serious bodily injury to another person and serious bodily injury actually occurred to another person, is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $5,000 or both.

(c) Penalty for death.- A person who violates § 20-102 of this article (“Driver to remain at scene – Accident resulting in bodily injury or death”) and who knew or reasonably should have known that the accident might result in the death of another person and death actually occurred to another person, is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than $10,000 or both.
[2002, chs. 461, 462.] § 5-106. Prosecution for misdemeanors; manslaughter by automobile, motorboat, etc.; homicide by motor vehicle.

(p) Manslaughter by automobile, motorboat, etc.; homicide by motor vehicle; stopping at scene of accident.- A prosecution for an offense under Title 2, Subtitle 5 or § 2-209 of the Criminal Law Article or § 20-102 of the Transportation Article shall be instituted within 3 years after the offense was committed.

Bethesda, Maryland Man Who Pled Guilty To July 2006 Drunk Driving Accident That Killed One Man And Critically Injured One Woman Is Sentenced To Seven Years In Jail

March 7, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

David Helms of Bethesda, Maryland, will serve seven years in jail and three years probation. The sentence was issued following his guilty plea last month to one count of DWI and manslaughter related to the July 11 car crash on an Interstate 70 ramp that killed Northwest High School teacher Leonard Cave, 61, and critically injured Carolyn Gype, also a teacher at the school. Gype had to learn how to walk again.

Helms’s blood alcohol level at the time had registered .14—nearly twice the state’s legal limit, and many Maryland residents have expressed anger that the charge was manslaughter rather than murder. Under Maryland law, however, killing someone because of drunken driving is consider manslaughter and not murder. 10 years in prison is Maryland’s maximum sentence for a vehicular manslaughter conviction.

The 44-year-old Bethesda resident had been driving his Dodge Ram pickup truck on the I-70 ramp to Route 355 when he lost control of his truck. His truck struck the driver’s side of the Sienna minivan that Cave and Gype were riding.

Helms’s license had already been suspended prior to the fatal accident. He also had prior convictions in Florida for burglary, battery, and larceny, as well as a controlled and dangerous substance conviction in California and a conviction for resisting arrest.

Here are some statistics on drunk driving:

• Forty-one percent of 1,672 motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle crashes in 2004 had BAC levels of .08 g/dl or higher. Sixty percent of those killed in single-vehicle crashes on weekend nights had BAC levels of .08 g/dl or higher. (NHTSA, 2005 )
• The majority of those who reported alcohol-related DUI in the 12 months prior to a national survey are not alcohol dependent or alcohol abusers. In 2000, 37% of the Blacks, 38% of the Hispanics, 29% of Whites, 44% of the Native Americans/Alaskan Natives, 39% of Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, 22% of the Asians and 28% of those of Mixed race who report committing DUI in the past year are alcohol abusers or dependent; all the others who drove under the influence are not. (Caetano and McGrath, 2005)
• In 2004, 30 percent of all fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-related, compared to 51 percent on weekends. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate was 5 percent during the week and 12 percent during the weekend. (NHTSA, 2005)
• For fatal crashes occurring from midnight to 3:00 AM, 77 percent involved alcohol in 2003. The next most dangerous time period for alcohol-related crash deaths were 9 PM to midnight (64 percent of fatal crashes involved alcohol), followed by 3 AM to 6 AM (60 percent of fatal crashes involved alcohol). (NHTSA, 2004)
• The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than 3 times as high at night as during the day (60 percent vs. 18 percent). For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is 5 times as high at night (16 percent vs. 3 percent). (NHTSA, 2005)
• The impact of alcohol involvement increases with injury severity. Alcohol-involved crashes accounted for 10 percent of property damage only crash costs, 21 percent of nonfatal injury crashes; and 46 percent of fatal injury crash costs. (NHTSA, 2002)

• Alcohol-related fatalities are caused primarily by the consumption of beer (80 percent) followed by liquor/wine at 20 percent. (Runge, 2002)

Female Hagerstown Pedestrian Dies In Car Accident On Maryland’s U.S. 40

March 5, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Mary Dorothy Reinhardt, a Hagerstown resident, was hit by a 1993 Honda Del Sol in a pedestrian accident last Friday, while walking eastward on U.S. 40 in the travel lane. Maryland State Police say she later died at Washington County Hospital.

The driver of the Honda, 28-year-old Rocky Lynn Bishop, was not injured during the accident.

• In 2005, 4,881 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States — a decrease of 13 percent from the 5,584 pedestrians killed in 1995.

• On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 108 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 8 minutes.

• There were 64,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes in 2005.

• Most pedestrian fatalities in 2005 occurred in urban areas (74%), at non intersection locations (80%), in normal weather conditions (89%), and at

• night (67%).

• Pedestrian fatalities accounted for 83 percent of all nonoccupant fatalities in 2005. The 784 pedalcyclist fatalities accounted for 13 percent, and the remaining 3 percent were skateboard riders, roller skaters, etc.

Who may be liable in a pedestrian personal injury accident:

• A person who is negligent when driving a motor vehicle and strikes a pedestrian
• The pedestrian for acting negligently, resulting in a personal injury accident
• The company or persons responsible for maintaining the road, sidewalk, or other area where the pedestrian accident took place

It is important to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney who has a successful track record when handling pedestrian accidents.

Two Fire Workers Sustain Burn Injuries In Baltimore Fire Exercises

February 28, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A fire cadet and a fire lieutenant where injured during two separate live fire exercises in Baltimore earlier this month. The recruit, Daniel Nott, sustained a first-degree burn on his cheek while Lieutenant Sam Darby sustained a burn injury on his hand.

A fire department spokesman said that mistakes during the back-to-back training exercises are being investigated, while fire officials say that federal regulations related to controlled burns were not followed.

On February 9, fire cadet Racheal M. Wilson died in a fire that had been set on South Calverton Road. Academy head Kenneth Hyde Sr. and Lt. Joseph Crest, a lead instructor to the cadets, were suspended without pay. Following the two injury incidents, Lieutenant Barry Broyes, a third officer, was also suspended without pay. Broyes’ responsibilities include supervising the rapid intervention team that is responsible for rescuing recruits in the event that a fire does get under control.

Burn Injuries

Burn injuries can be caused by fire, electricity, heat, hot water, radiation, gases, or chemicals. They can also result from motor vehicle-related accidents, such as car accidents, motorcycle accidents, boating accidents, and truck accidents. Burn injuries are among the most painful of non-fatal injuries.

Burn injuries can be categorized by the degree of the burns—first-degree, second-degree, third degree—and what caused the burn. Muscles, bones, blood vessels, nerves, skin, and the respiratory system can also be damaged by burns.

If a burn injury results because someone else was liable or negligent, a burn victim may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.

12-Year Old Maryland Boy Suffers Critical Head Injuries In Car Accident In Germantown

February 26, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Carson Daniel Fehner, 12, was seriously injured last Tuesday when the minivan that his mother was driving turned left into the path of a tow truck. He sustained critical head trauma and was airlifted to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. His mother, Terri, was not hurt in the car accident, and police say that side airbags may have saved the boy’s life.

Terri, 51, had turned left from Germantown Road in front of the path of a truck that was towing another vehicle. Both vehicles had green lights. The tow truck’s driver, Earl Jobe, 48, did not sustain injuries.

In the United States, about 5 million Americans suffer from traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries are caused by car accidents, motorcycle accidents, sports injuries, falls, and truck crashes.

Kinds of Head injuries:

· Concussions
· Brain damage
· Cerebral contusions
· Indirect trauma
· Diffuse axonal injury
· Hypoxia
· Direct trauma
· Hematoma
· Edema
· Intercerebral hemorrhage
· Hygroma
· Hydrocephalus
· Epidural hematoma
· Subdural hematoma

Signs that a brain injury has taken place:

· Loss of consciousness
· Post traumatic amnesia
· Concussion
· Encephalopathy
· Focal Neurological Signs
· Seizure

Another Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Singer-Actress Brandy For SUV-Related Crash That Killed 38-Year-Old Woman

February 23, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The sons of a woman who was killed in a car accident last December involving singer-actress Brandy have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the performer. This is the second wrongful death lawsuit filed against the singer in connection to the accident.

Brandy had been driving the SUV that collided into the Honda being driven by Awatef Aboudihaj, 38, on a San Diego freeway. The woman died as a result of the collision, and her parents filed a $50 million wrongful death claim against Brandy last month.

This second lawsuit is being filed on behalf of her two sons, Kareem Mohamed, 10, and Mrwan Mohamed, 14, both who will allegedly “be forever harmed by the loss of their mother.” Damages will be decided during the trial.

Brandy, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, has not been criminally charged for her role in the accident, although California Highway Patrol investigators are recommending that she be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. If she is charged and convicted, the singer would have to pay a $1,000 fine and spend up to a year in prison.

Brandy is a Grammy award-winning singer who began recording music at 14. She also formerly starred on the television show “Moesha.”

In order to file a wrongful death claim, you have to establish the following:

· There is evidence that could justify grounds for a wrongful death case
· The victim died because of another’s negligence
· You can identify the person or entity to blame for causing the wrongful death

Survivors who are directly related to the deceased are allowed to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This includes, parents, spouses, children, and grandchildren.

Each state has a different statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death suit. Damages can be filed for a number of losses, including the loss of the decedent’s companionship, any income (including benefits, financial support, inheritance) that may have been received by survivors had their loved one not been killed, and punitive damages intended to punish the defendant for their negligent actions leading to death. These damages are separate from any prison time or fines that a defendant may be sentenced to in criminal court for the same accident.

Filing a wrongful death claim can be a very stressful and complex process, and it will be important that you retain the services of an experienced wrongful death attorney who can help you.