The Athlete's Lawyer

With Loudoun County police stopping Fairfax bike riders for riding two-by-two, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau was asked to look into the laws regarding bikers riding other than in single file formation.  Bicycling around Leesburg, Ashburn, Ashburton, Broadlands and Sterling is a great way to enjoy the rural parts of the Washington DC Metropolitan area.  Biking also allows us to go outdoors and get some exercise. While many people ride recreationally, if you spend time out on the roads around Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William Counties, you cannot help but notice that we also have a substantial number of competitive bikers. 

Whether you are cycling just for recreation and want to ride alongside your fellow bikers, or you are training for competition and need a pace lane, you should know your rights and obligations as cyclist.  You should also ride defensively so as to avoid a car accident, crashing or injuring others.  As far as how many riders can ride across a Loudoun Country Virginia road, there seems to be differences of opinion inside and outside of the Northern Virginia cycling community.  Specifically, can a Loudoun County cyclist ride 2 abreast (or more) on the public roadways ? Read the rest of this entry »

When I followed professional football as a teenager in the 1970s, only Bubba Smith weighed more than 300 pounds.  Now, “super sized” linemen are commonplace.  Can you imagine a 300 pound person falling on top of you ?  How about 2 or 3 ?!!?  What about the health effects on these gigantic players, making sudden movements with all that weight, hitting each other and running anaerobically ?  And what happens to these large men when their playing days are over, and they are no longer professional athletes looked after by a team of doctors, trainers and dietitians ?

According to a report in the New York Times, there are more than 500 300-pounders presently.  A 1994 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study found that former offensive and defensive linemen had a 52% higher rate of death from cardiovascular disease than did the general population. Since then, the players at these positions have only gotten bigger, with the average weight in the NFL 252 pounds.  A 2005 University of North Carolina study found that more than a quarter of the NFL’s players fit the category of Class II obesity, Read the rest of this entry »

Bikers stopped to traffic violations may find their ride (or race !) over prematurely if they do not have proper identification

Would the cops really frisk a cyclist in spandex ?  This is not as off-the-wall question as it may seem.  After representing several bikers picked up by local police for violations of state law, I was asked could they have gotten tickets (and potentially points on their Division of Motor Vehicles record) if they did not  have their drivers license on their person.  One irate cyclist noted that the foreign riders, who have no U.S drivers license, could not get points, nor could the young bike riders who did not yet have their permits.  It did not seem fair that drivers license carrying American citizens could be penalized this way.  Plus, it seemed unjust that a cyclist could lose his/her driving privileges for an infraction committed while biking, but a car driver cannot lose his/her bicycling privileges if they get too many speeding, reckless driving or DUI convictions !

Having prosecuted many ticketed motorists, I understand that from the police officers’ point of view, once a violation of the law has occurred, or the officer has a reasonable suspicion that there has been a violation, they can ask for identification.  Some states require more Read the rest of this entry »

When going to the office on cold winter mornings, I have seen bikers in covered helmets, booties and thick gloves braving the elements.  However, motorists around the W&OD Trail are often surprised to see cyclists and animals coming off the path and crossing Herndon, Sterling and Loudoun County roadways.  When a biker or deer appears in front of you on a snow covered road, and there is not enough time to brake, the following suggestions come from Rally Coach Tim O’Neil so that you do not end up killing the cyclist, the deer, yourself or totaling your car.

• Take your foot of the gas immediately.  Do not fixate on the biker, deer or motorcycle – you will just drive straight at it if you do.  Instead, look at the rear wheel or animal’s hindquarters, since cyclists, deer, elk, etc. are not likely to go into reverse !  Turn the steering wheel 90 degree to your right.
• Now your vehicle is headed toward the shoulder, ditch, guardrail, etc.  Do not panic.  You should look at where you want the car to go.  Fix your eyes on the center of the road and turn left twice as far, about 180 degrees.
• Once you have cleared the obstacle, animal, human or other, counter steer 45 degrees to your right and hit the gas to straighten out.

Hopefully, these tips will enable you to “live and let live.”  A car crash with a deer, cyclist or object in the road can be catastrophic.  The damage we have seen caused by impacts with deer are truly astounding.  The losses caused by car crashes with animals and cyclists are some of the most severe we see at the Landau Law Shop.  you might even want to practice, and take the newer drivers in your household out to an empty, safe parking lot, to practice winter driving techniques in order to prevent injury, property loss and death.

While competing in the FINA Open Water 10-kilometer World Cup, a swimming race held near Dubai, 26-year-old Fran Crippen, died.   According to news reports, Crippen was a medal-winning member of the U.S. national team who in July placed fourth in the 10K and third in the 5K at the 2010 world championships in Quebec. Temperatures at the time of the race had reached abnormally high levels for competition—roughly 87° in the water and 100° on land—and Crippen was said to have told his coach late in the race that he wasn’t feeling well. When Crippen failed to finish, several competitors turned around to start a rescue effort. The rescue concluded when deep-sea divers recovered his body near the final buoy on the triangular two-kilometer course. (Three other swimmers were hospitalized and later released with what were believed to have been heat-related issues.) According to the Sports Illustrated coverage, Crippen’s death marks the first fatality at a FINA event.

Sometimes, after running long distances in extremely cold conditions, Herndon Virginia sports injury lawyer Doug Landau, despite wearing layers, shows little brain activity !

When it gets dark earlier in the evening, and when glare and low sunsets compromise driver’s vision, it’s best to run off the roads or with a group.  Join a local running group in your area and enjoy your running.  Running off roads has its own set of special hazards.  For one thing, the uneven surfaces that I favor can cause twisted ankle in the low light conditions this time of year.  Also, the cold temperatures make soft cinder, mud and grass courses more unforgiving, leading to stress on the knees, IT bands and ankles.

If you run on streets, wear as much reflective and light colored gear as you can.  I understand that black clothing is “slenderizing,” but as a driver myself, I have a hard mew seeing runners in all black during “rush hour.”  If you can run during your lunch break, when the temperatures are higher and the lighting is better, try to do so.  It will keep your energy level high during the afternoon “doldrums,” and you won’t be so tired (or unmotivated) facing a workout after your commute home at the end of the day.  I tend to overdress in the winter with lots of layers, as I can always remove a light jacket, hat or open up some vents.  When there is snow on the ground, I like to wear high gators like mountain hikers wear.  It keeps snow and ice out of my running shoes and socks.  As long as my  extremities are warm (my hands, feet and head), then I can keep going for many miles.  But, as soon as I get wet and cold, I head for home,. hot soup and a bath.  Stay warm, run with friends, be safe and have fun this winter.

A month ago Sports Illustrated looked at concussions and their effects on professional athletes.  Instead of photos of swimsuit models or multimillionaire athletes, the popular sports magazine looked at a very serious subject, that of head trauma and permanent disability in the ranks of professional athletes.  The periodical looked at the hits no one is noticing, the “invisible” traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) and cumulative concussions, especially among professional football players. The SI article relates, “At the Veterans Administration hospital in Bedford, Mass.,  one of the world’s foremost experts on repetitive brain trauma slipped a slide into a microscope. Dr. Ann McKee, an associate professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University who has been studying the brains of deceased football players, wanted to illustrate the damage that repeated hits to the helmet can cause. This slide of a cross-section of a human male brain, magnified 100 times, showed scores, maybe hundreds, of tiny brownish triangular bits of a toxic protein called tau, choking off cellular life in the brain.”

“This is Louis Creekmur,” said McKee. “You can see there are hardly any areas untouched by the damage. Like with Wally Hilgenberg, it is widespread in Louis Creekmur. I would call it incredible chaos in the brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Doug Landau of the Herndon Law Firm ABRAMS LANDAU, at last year's National Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships held at the Prince Georges Sports & Learning Complex ("PGS&LC") in Landover Maryland

If you want to see how fast you are or you do not like running in the cold air, try an indoor track meet at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex (“PGS&LC”).  PGS&LC is convenient for track and field athletes from Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.  While the track itself is not banked, it is fast, well maintained, and there are bleachers and a high ceiling so that you do not feel cramped or unable to breath.  Plus there is an outdoor track outside and plenty of space to warm up and cool down.

The facility is located on approximately 80 acres adjacent to the Washington Redskins’ FedEx Field in Landover, MD.  Indoor track meets are run throughout the winter months, with special events for masters athletes, kids and high school athletes.  The track features a newly installed 200-meter Mondo Super X Synthetic surface.  Competitors are allowed to use a maximum 1/4 inch pyramid spikes ONLY!  Be sure to check out the 2010/2011 indoor track and field meets scheduled, featuring the areas finest high school and collegiate athletes.  Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. has competed at the Complex many times.  Last winter the PGS&LC hosted the indoor Masters National Track & Field Championships.  The development concept for the Complex is a mix of publicly and privately owned and operated facilities on the site, which is owned by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Fairfax attorney and athlete Cynthia Kaplan Revesman and Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. are all sweat and smiles after completing the Town of Herndon Turkey Trot race

The annual Herndon Turkey Trot 5K had over 800 runners, joggers and walkers who got to experience the grass, pavement, golf cart path and dirt course.  The cross-country style race took place on the Herndon Centennial Golf Course, where earlier in the day the town’s annual Gobbler Scrambler Golf Tournament was held.  The overall male and female winners receive a turkey and all the trimmings.  The event collected canned food items for LINK.  This year LINK is hoping to feed 775 families for both the Thanksgiving and December holidays.

Used running shoes, smelly sneakers and used gym shoes were also collected for the  Nike Reuse a Shoe Program.   The shoes will be ground up into small pieces and later used to make basketball courts, track fields, playgrounds, floor tiles and other items.  Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm finished 38th out of 752 finishers.  The Triathlon Trial Lawyer then went down the W&OD Trail to the Landau Law Shop, located near the Caboose and 20 Mile Marker.  It was a lovely day for a race, warmer than usual, and many friends and neighbors turned out to support several wonderful causes and to cheer each other on to the finish line.

When a car turns and strikes a 50-year-old biker in Fairfax, it resonates with me, as I am now a half century and often ride on the County streets and trails of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William.  The Fairfax Times reported that Crash Reconstruction detectives are seeking witnesses to a crash that occurred on Sunday, November 14th near the intersection of Fort Hunt Road and Belle Haven Road. At around 3 p.m., a bicyclist was headed eastbound on Belle Haven Road.  At the same time, a four-door 2005 Toyota Corolla attempted to turn left onto Fort Hunt from westbound Belle Haven. The bicyclist and the car crashed and the cyclist, age 50, was thrown from his bike.  He was medevaced to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Detectives ask anyone who may have witnessed this crash to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.