Maryland Accident Law Blog

Reduction in Car Accident Fatalities Among 16 Year-Olds Matched by Rise Among 18 Year-Olds

September 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Restrictions placed on teenagers’ driving privileges has led to a decrease in the number of fatal automobile accidents among 16-year-olds. Research suggests, however, that the risk may simply have shifted to older teens, as a corresponding rise in traffic fatalities has occurred among 18-year-olds. A study published in the September 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed data from crashes nationwide covering the years 1986 to 2007 and found an increase in fatal car accidents as teens get older. 16-year-olds average 28.2 fatal crashes per 100,000 person-years, compared to 36.9 for 27-year-olds and 46.2 for 18-year-olds.

Graduated driver licensing laws, known as GDLs, limit driving privileges of 16-year-olds until they gain experience in lower-risk driving situations. Most GDL’s establish three stages: a “learner’s” period requiring supervised driving, an intermediate period with limited unsupervised driving, and a full privilege period identical to an adult driver’s license. Some states add restrictions on nighttime driving, use of cell phones while driving, and number of passengers allowed in cars operated by teenagers. New Jersey requires drivers without full privileges to display a “new driver” decal on their vehicles.

Maryland’s GDL allows entry into the learner’s stage at 15 years, 9 months, and requires a minimum of 9 months in that stage with a minimum of 60 hours of supervised driving. Young drivers may enter the intermediate stage at age 16 years, 6 months and after completing the learner’s stage. Intermediate drivers cannot drive unsupervised between midnight and 5:00 a.m. and cannot have passengers under the age of 18 for the first five months. All restrictions may be lifted at age 18.

By limiting new drivers’ exposure to high-risk, dangerous situations, GDLs appear to have successfully reduced the total number of fatal car accidents among 16- and 17-year-old teens. Researchers suspect, however, that at least part of the higher rate of fatalities among 18-year-olds may be due to teens deferring obtaining a driver’s license until age 18, thus skipping the GDL process entirely. This results in 18-year-old new drivers who have not gone through the training process encompassed by GDL’s.

“[Older teens] are saying, ‘The heck with your more complicated process,'” says Justin McNaull, director of state relations for the American Automobile Association. At 18, teenagers can, in many cases, get their license in a matter of weeks.

No national database exists to show the total number of 16-year-old drivers compared to older new drivers. The hypothesis is therefore largely anecdotal, as it is not clear if there are fewer 16-year-old drivers nationwide. The study’s finding suggest that there is no net change in the total number of traffic fatalities, at least as related to GDL’s, but rather that the risk has shifted to slightly older drivers.

Maryland Lawsuit Seeks to Hold Bar Liable for Intoxicated Boating Accident

September 8, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Maryland seeks to hold a bar liable for injuries sustained in a 2008 boating accident. Early in the morning on June 5, 2008 a ski boat carrying 10 people crashed into an abutment on the Route 90 bridge in Ocean City, Maryland. Conditions at the time were foggy, and the collision caused all of the boat’s occupants to fall into the water. Everyone was rescued, although several sustained injuries. Only one passenger required hospitalization, while 6 passengers were treated at the hospital and released, and 3 were treated at the scene.

Scott Howard Shepard, who was operating the boat at the time of the accident, was eventually charged with operating a vessel while impaired, negligent operation and reckless operation. He received a 30-day jail sentence. Shepard and the boat’s passengers had been at Seacrets, a resort nightclub. The club’s water taxi had ferried them to their boat prior to the accident.

In March 2011, passenger Danielle Vollmer, who had been treated and released from the hospital, filed suit in the United States District Court in Baltimore against Shepard and Seacrets. The claim against Shepard appears to be an ordinary negligence claim, while the claim against Seacrets incorporates maritime law claims and a claim for dram shop act liability. Her complaint states that “Seacrets knew or should have known that ferrying and encouraging a severely intoxicated patron such as Shepard to his boat, and then later ferrying the plaintiff to board and depart on the same boat with Shepard, created a condition of danger to the plaintiff and the public.” She is seeking $1 million in damages from each of the defendants.

Vollmer’s case against Seacrets will be interesting to watch. Maryland is one of 12 U.S. states that does not have a statute or caselaw providing for dram shop liability. “Dram shop” liability holds a bar that sells alcohol, or a host that serves alcohol, to a visibly intoxicated person strictly liable for damages subsequently caused by that person. For example, a bar that sells liquor to an individual who would appear intoxicated to any reasonable person would be liable to a person injured by the intoxicated individual, to the extent that the injuries were a result of the person’s drunken state. This most often involves DUI accidents. 38 states have laws allowing this sort of liability, but not Maryland.

That may change in the near future, though. In June 2011, Montgomery County, Maryland judge Eric M. Johnson stated in an order that it is time for Maryland’s law to change. Judge Johnson was presiding over a lawsuit against a bar by the family of a child killed by a drunk driver who had been served beer at the bar prior to the accident. In rejecting the bar’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Judge Johnson wrote:

The facts of this case undoubtedly should serve as the impetus to adjusting Maryland jurisprudence on the topic of dram shop liability…This court is of the opinion that while the Maryland legislature has not enacted dram shop legislation, it has not expressly prohibited it … A bar owner who continuously serves drinks to intoxicated individuals and makes no attempt to ensure that the individual has alternative means home should expect that the intoxicated patron can get into an accident.

Judge Johnson’s order does not have any force of law beyond that particular lawsuit, but it may herald a change in how bars are treated when a bar patron causes an accident.

$5M Baltimore Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Man Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter in 2008 Inner Harbor Drowning

August 30, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family of Ankush Gupta is suing Wayne Black for Maryland wrongful death. Black, 21, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Gupta’s drowning. Now, the victim’s loved ones are seeking $5 million in damages. Gupta was 22.

Prosecutors say that in 2008, Black asked Gupta, who had stopped at Inner Harbor on his way to Montgomery County with friends, for a cigarette before shoving him into the water and running off. Gupta, who could not swim, drowned. The two men did not know each other.

Black eventually confessed that it was he who pushed Gupta and he was originally charged with first-degree murder. As part of his plea agreement, Black is to be sentenced to four years behind bars.

$2.5M Maryland Medical Malpractice Verdict to Family of Man Who Died After Suffering Hemorrhagic Shock Following Doctor’s Failure to Diagnose

August 23, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A jury has awarded the family of Lawrence Dixon $2.5 million for his Maryland wrongful death that was a result of Montgomery County medical malpractice. Dixon, 59, died on May 17, 2007 two days after he suffered a pelvic fracture during a fall accident.

According to the family’s Montgomery County wrongful death case, Dr. David Harding neglected to diagnose during an internal exam that the Lawrence man was bleeding internally. Signs his primary care physician should have noted were his failure to produce urine in 24 hours, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and loss of lucidity. The plaintiffs say that because of this failure to diagnose, Dixon died from multiple organ failure.

Harding’s attorneys disputed these allegations, claiming that Dixon died from taking kayexalate, which is a drug that lowers high potassium levels. They said the medication cut off Dixon’s oxygen when it directly entered his lungs.

$2M Maryland Truck Accident Verdict Awarded to Family of Elderly Couple

August 15, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A Montgomery County jury has awarded the family of Xiufeng Wang and Yunshu Li $2.032 million for Wang’s Maryland personal injuries and Li’s wrongful death. The elderly couple were hit by a dump truck in a backover accident On October 9, 2008.

Wang, 78, fractured his back and wrist. His wife Li, 74, was pronounced dead at the Germantown truck accident site. The couple were walking in a crossed traffic lane at a road construction site when the truck struck them.

In their Montgomery County truck accident complaint, their family sought damages from multiple parties involved in the construction project. They contend that Hakes Contracting Incorporated and Milestone Construction Services Inc. did not give pedestrians a safe alternative route in the construction area after taking off a portion of the sidewalk. They also accused the dump truck operator of negligence.

Federal Lawsuit Against ICE Accuses Anne Arundel County Police of Police Brutality During 2008 Immigration Raid in Maryland

August 11, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Two families have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over a 2008 immigration raid targeting Annapolis Painting Services. The plaintiffs are alleging police brutality and the violation of their civil rights and they are seeking $2.5 million in damages.

With the help of immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland, spouses Pablo Alvarado and Ingrid Munoz and siblings Elizabeth Gallegos-Torres and Natalia Pelaez-Torres have filed their complaint in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. All of the plaintiffs live in Annapolis.

On June 30, 2008, 75 federal agents and dozens of Anne Arundel County cops rounded up workers that they suspected were undocumented. More than a dozen homes, as well as the Annapolis Painting Services offices, were raided.

$91.5M Nursing Home Neglect Verdict Awarded to Family of Woman for Her Wrongful Death

August 9, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Baltimore nursing home abuse lawyers represent victims of Maryland nursing home negligence and their families. Nursing home operators should be held liable when abuse or poor care causes a patient to suffer serious injuries, illness, or death. For more information, please visit our Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog for more information.

Unfortunately, incidents of nursing home neglect and abuse throughout the US are not uncommon. Recently, a jury awarded the family of one elderly woman $91.5 million in their nursing home negligence case blaming assisted living facility Heartland of Charleston, which is owned by HCR ManorCare Inc., for her wrongful death. HCR Manor Care is a Carlyle Group nursing home subsidiary.

According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, Dorothy Douglas’s health deteriorated to the point that she was near death during her three-week stay at the nursing home in 2009. By the time she was transferred to another facility, the 87-year-old woman, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and several other conditions was unresponsive, severely dehydrated, and had lost 15 pounds. She died soon after.

One Worker Dies, Another Injured in Anne Arundel County Construction Accident

August 2, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 27-year-old worker was killed and another man hurt in a Maryland construction accident on Friday. The incident took place at a work site at the Arundel Mills Mall lot.

According to officials, Leon Ray Sax was killed when a precast concrete wall collapsed. He had been standing in a mechanical arm’s bucket lift at the time and when the wall, which was approximately 30 feet tall and consisted of 25 tons of precast concrete, fell he became trapped. Also injured in the Anne Arundel construction accident was Darbin Suazo-Jimenez, who sustained life-threatening injuries.

The Hanover, Maryland construction site is going to be the location of a slots machine parlor and entertainment complex. The company building the complex is Cordish Cos. The general contractor for the project is Commercial Interiors Inc.

Harford County, Maryland Car Accident Kills 14-Year-old Pylesville Pedestrian

July 31, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Heather Greer, 14, died on Thursday after she was injured in a Harford County pedestrian accident. The Pylesville teenager was crossing Route 136 when she was hit by a motor vehicle.

According to Maryland State Police, Greer died from injuries she sustained from the impact of being hit by a 2009 Toyota Highlander. She was pronounced dead at the R. Adams Cowley, University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where she was flown by helicopter after the Pylesville car crash.

Child Pedestrians

Maryland Birthing Malpractice: Brachial Plexus Injuries During Delivery Can Cause Permanent Damage

July 26, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers represent families whose babies were injured before, during, or right after delivery. We know how devastating it can be to have an occasion as joyful as the birth of a child to be marred because an obstetrician, gynecologist, anesthesiologist, or another medical professional was negligent.

One of the more common injuries that can occur during delivery as a result of Maryland medical malpractice is the brachial plexus injury, which is also known as Erb’s Palsy. This type of injury can happen if traumatic stretching of the infant’s brachial plexus (this area runs from the spine to the muscles in the arms and shoulders and can also impact the arms and hands) occurs when trying to get him/her out. For example, if labor has gone too long or the baby is in breech or if his/her shoulder is stuck under the mother’s pubic bone or in the birth canal, his/her head may have to be pushed away from the shoulder while the arm is forced upward or the shoulder is pushed downward to get the baby out. If too much force is exerted, stretching or tearing of the baby’s nerve can occur and permanent and serious injuries (including partial or total paralysis) can result.

Just recently, a jury awarded a family $1.3 million against the doctor who delivered their child in 2006. In their birthing malpractice lawsuit, the couple claimed that their doctor could have performed a C-section or applied techniques other than excessive traction to free their daughter’s shoulder during birth. Because of her brachial plexus injury, she still isn’t fully able to use her left arm.

Brachial plexus injuries can be avoided. Common reasons why they occur:
• Failure to properly estimate the baby’s weight and size
• Applying too much traction to the baby’s neck during labor
• Failure to properly monitor for fetal distress
• Failure to properly gauge whether/not baby’s shoulder can easily move through the birth canal
Jury awards $1.3 million in childbirth lawsuit against doctor, WCF Courier, July 20, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Brachial plexus injury, MayoClinic
What are Brachial Plexus Injuries?, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

More Blog Posts:
Maryland Birthing Malpractice Leaves Devastating Consequences for Parents and Child, Maryland Accident Law Blog, May 30, 2011
Can Maryland Birthing Malpractice Cause Autism?, Maryland Accident Law Blog, July 16, 2011
Maryland Birthing Malpractice: Expansion of Consent Doctrine Restores $13 Million Cerebral Palsy Verdict, Maryland Accident Law Blog, July 31, 2009