Maryland State Police are cracking down on drunk drivers on the road. The effort is part of a nationwide initiative that will increase the number of blanket patrols and sobriety checkpoints.
The National Highway Safety Administration is also spearheading an $11 million national ad campaign called “Drunk Driving. Over The Limit. Under Arrest” that will air on radio and television.
The NHTSA says:
This month, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office announced that—as of August 8—the death toll on Charles County Roads had risen to 27 people. The accident toll was reported at 24 traffic crashes, with 12 of them DUI-related. Speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, and other driving-related errors were cited as other reasons for the traffic accidents and fatalities.
The Sheriff’s office said that-this year-they have (so far) issued:
· 4,282 speeding citations.
A 42-year-old Calvert County woman was killed on August 18 after the motorcycle she was riding on Lothian Road was hit from behind by an SUV. Anne Fordham Smith was ejected from her 2004 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider by a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Vicki Denise Hanbury. Smith sustained multiple injuries and pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Hanbury’s Trailblazer also struck a 1990 Toyota 4Runner being driven by 20-year-old Lothian resident Amber Renee Leyland. Leyland’s SUV rolled onto its roof, and she and her 4-month old infant passenger were treated for minor injuries and later released at Calvert Memorial Hospital. Hanbury was taken to the same hospital and treated for injuries also.
The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says there were 42,815 motorcycle-related fatalities in 2002.
A 38-year-old female bicyclist was pronounced dead after a Saturn car hit the bicycle she was riding on Clear Ridge Road on August 17. Jennifer Michele Clayton died of her injuries at Baltimore’s Maryland Shock Trauma Center later that night.
The surviving loved ones of a cyclist who has been killed in vehicle-related accident may be able to file a personal injury/wrongful death lawsuit for their loss. A personal injury attorney can assist you in determining whether you are eligible to make a claim.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, here are some common situations that often lead to vehicle-related bicycle accidents. The crash types were determined by evaluating more than 3,000 bicycle-motor vehicle accidents that took place in Maryland, California, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah.
Maryland State Police have been investigating a fatal car accident that took the lives of Christine Marie Bruno, 44, and her 14-year-old daughter Kristen on August 17.
Bruno was pulling out onto Holly Grove Road from the Glen Ridge development when she neglected to yield to traffic on Route 50 and was hit by a Ford truck being driven by Dagsboro resident Howard L. Lynch III, 35.
Bruno was killed on impact. Her daughter, Kristen, was flown to Peninsula Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Another juvenile, a 13-year-old girl, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat of Bruno’s car, was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital and treated for critical injuries. She is expected to recover fully.
In Maryland, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police on August 12 has hired an attorney and is claiming that his death was a wrongful death situation.
Baltimore police say that Officer Roderick Mitter shot and killed Kevin Cooper outside his home in Southwest Baltimore after Cooper hit him and threatened him with a jagged, broken broom handle. Police say that Cooper’s mother, a state correctional officer, had called police, told them that her son was assaulting her, and asked police to come to her home on Font Avenue.
Officer Mitter says that he first tried apprehending Cooper, who was assaulting him, with Mace. He alleges that the boy then moved toward him with the broom handle, so he shot Cooper on the shoulder.
In Maryland, four people were taken to hospitals last week after a Butler Ambulance and a Carroll County government dump truck were involved in a five-vehicle accident on Route 32 outside Sykesville.
The accident took place south of Springfield Avenue when the ambulance hit a compact car, the dump truck, and a small SUV. The ambulance was also hit by another SUV.
Two of the ambulance medics were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where they were treated for injuries. Another medic was taken by ambulance to Carroll County Hospital Center. The driver of the small SUV had to be cut out of his car and taken to Howard County General Hospital for treatment.
Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele was treated and released at a local hospital last week after he was involved in a car accident. Maryland State Police say the Chevrolet Suburban that Steele was traveling in was hit by a Chevrolet Cavalier at an intersection of Dorsey Road and Ridge Road in Hanover near the Baltimore Washington International Airport. The driver of the Cavelier was 19-year-old Baltimore resident Brittany Laporte. Preliminary reports are citing driver error.
Paramedics drove Steele and the two troopers who were riding with him to the Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie where they were treated and released. Steele reportedly went home to rest afterward.
If you are injured in a car accident, you should act quickly to find witnesses and preserve the evidence to prove your case to an insurance company.
The family of a Brooklyn man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Baltimore earlier this month say that they plan to file a wrongful death suit.
Ernest Oliver, 39, was shot in the 600 block of Roundview Road in Cherry Hill on August 5 after he allegedly fled the scene of a suspected drug deal. Oliver was shot multiple times by Police Officer David Diener. Police say that Diener saw Oliver reach for his pockets and thought that his life was in danger. Oliver was pronounced dead after he was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Drugs, but no weapon, were found on him. Police are continuing to search for a weapon in the area where he was apprehended.
Oliver’s relatives say that police used excessive force to apprehend him. He leaves behind four children and a fiancé. Oliver had been arrested previously on drug charges, robbery charges, possession of a deadly weapon, and battery.
A 28-year-old La Plata woman was arrested on August 1, 2006, for driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired, negligent driving, fleeing and eluding, hit and run, and failure to drive on right side of the road.
Sabrina Rae Cutlip was apprehended by police who followed her after she became involved in a hit and run accident in the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy on Crain Highway in La Plata.
A hit and run incident is a failure by a driver involved in an vehicle-related accident to stop and remain at the scene of the accident.
Maryland Accident Law Blog
