The Athlete's Lawyer

Yesterday we looked at the possible causes for the deaths of swimmers in Triathlon and other open water competition.  Pre-existing cardiac conditions may be one plausible theory.  One such pre-existing condition could be “Long QT syndrome.”  This is an “inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations, seizures and sudden death. The name of the syndrome comes from the QT segment in the tracing on the electrocardiogram (ECG). This segment lasts slightly longer in the syndrome than normal. The heart takes longer to recharge itself between beats. Certain conditions can trigger an abnormal cardiac rhythm. Among the known triggers are intense physical exercise, swimming, being suddenly startled or badly frightened.

So, with swimming being a potential “trigger” and caffeine known to cause irregular heart beats (or “ectopic foci”), I looked for deaths associated with energy drink consumption and sport.  According to the Sport Journal, when these are reported, they seem to be isolated cases involving multiple servings with high levels of caffeine.  For example, according to Rice University over 15 years ago, one study looked at the whether caffeine intake increased the risk of heart 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.

Herndon Virginia biker lawyer Doug Landau applauds the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's free membership offer to Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC bicycle police officers

As part of the Washington Area Bicyclist Associations ongoing efforts to improve roadways safety and build relationshis with the law enforcement officers responsible for helping to enforce traffic laws in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, the WABA has begin offering free memberships.  Any law enforcement officer in the DC Metropolitan area who rides a bike as part of his or her duties is eligible.  The WABA is encouraging members to reach out to local police ion the community.  It’s simple: if they ride a bicycle as part of their job they qualify for free membership.

As WABA members frequently interact with local police on a number of matters, from roadway safety, and enforcement concerns, to special events, information seeking after crashes and near misses.  WABA members recognize the life-and-death importance that enforcement of traffic laws can have for cyclists sharing the road with motor vehicles of all sizes.  Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. will be advising Herndon’s bike-based officers about this free benefit.  Hopefully, all of the bicycle officers in Herndon and Reston Virginia as well as those who traverse the W&OD Trail will soon have WABA memberships and receive the excellent “Ride On” publication.

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.

A news report on NPR struck me and resonated as 6 teens drown in Louisiana, because they and the adults they were with could not swim.  The half-dozen teens were wading in the shallows of a Louisiana river.  Because none of the teenagers could swim, they drowned in front of their horrified families after falling into deep water. None of the nearby adults could swim.

A seventh teen, a 14-year-old boy, was rescued. News reports of the deaths in the Red River, in a popular recreational area where sand bars give way to 20-foot depths.  “They had one lifejacket here. As you can imagine, everybody started yelling for help,” said Caddo Parish sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick.  Shreveport Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders said he believed the victims, ages 13 to 18, included three brothers from one family and a sister and two brothers from another.  The teens had started playing in a familiar area but ended up at a spot in the river where the bottom fell suddenly and that’s where divers found the bodies, Sanders said.

“They were out here with some adults. But unfortunately, neither the children nor the adults could swim,” he said.  According to the news account, “Swimming skills can be scarce among African-Americans like the teens in this tragedy. A study commissioned by the sports governing body USA Swimming found 69 percent of black children had low or no swimming ability. Segregation kept blacks out of public and private pools for decades and the disparity continues because many poor and working class children have limited access to pools or instruction.”

The Times of Shreveport reported a large group of family and friends, including roughly 20 children, were out at the sandbar to barbecue and have a good time. They frequent the area and were familiar with the water.  “None of us could swim,” a friend told the newspaper. “They were yelling ‘help me, help me. Somebody please help me.’ It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one.”  The families were in a recreational area of the Red River that has sand bars, Sanders said. The park is a popular picnic and fishing area and some people do go wading.

This tragic NPR story underscores the importance of learning to swim, at any age, and indoctrinating children in water safety practices.  Water safety lawyer Doug Landau believes being able to swim should be a high school graduation requirement, as is the case with some colleges.  Basic first aid, survival skills and other actions necessary for emergency situations and helping others.  In one officials the only countries without compulsory military or governmental service, these minimal requirements would go a long way toward preventing unnecessary death and harms during times of flooding, storms, earthquake and attack.

When your friend with the bad driving record asks to borrow your car, a recent judge’s ruling should make you think twice before turning over the keys.  Virginia courts have long allowed lawsuits to be brought against the owner of a vehicle, even when that person was not behind the wheel when the accident occurred.  Traditionally, these “negligent entrustment” lawsuits were only allowed when the vehicle’s owner allowed a person he knew to be physically or mentally impaired to drive.  However, a Rockingham County judge has recently allowed one such negligent entrustment suit to be brought where the only “impairment” of the driver was his propensity for dangerous highway antics.

In this case the owner of the vehicle sat idly by in the passenger seat, while the driver continuously swerved off the road, tailgated other drivers, and drove the car into the oncoming lane.  By allowing the driver to continue these “road games” in his vehicle, the owner opened himself up to a large wrongful death suit when the driver eventually crossed the center line, killing an oncoming driver.

So, if you have a friend who you know to be a reckless driver, take a minute to think about your potential liability before allowing him to get behind the wheel of your car.  If his reckless driving ends up causing someone else’s injuries, it could be you sitting in the defendant’s chair, with your assets on the line.

If you have been harmed by the negligence or fault of a company whose employee or agent caused you injury, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once, as negligent entrustment claims require extra preparation and proof.

ABRAMS LANDAU Trial lawyer Doug Landau has helped clients injured by potholes and other roadway defects.  One case in the District of Columbia involved a pothole that swallowed the ABRAMS LANDAU client’s front wheel while driving under L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.  Another client of cyclist lawyer Doug Landau was injured when his bicycle tire went into a hole on the Virginia bike path that was filled with water so it was impossible to see the dangerous condition.  Recently brought to the Herndon Reston injury lawyer’s attention was a lawsuit over a pot hole accident that settled in Missouri.

According to the Kansas Star, Jackson County Missouri, has agreed to a $270,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by a cyclist who crashed his bike in a pot hole last summer. The plaintiff in this personal injury lawsuit was riding his motorcycle in east Jackson County when he pot hole ankle-deep and as wide as his arms, his lawsuit claims, suffering serious injuries. The suit alleges the county was previous aware of the dangerous pot hole but had done nothing to fix it.  Where there is a dangerous condition and sufficient “notice” such that the landowner knew or should have known about it and fixed, warned or taken other action to prevent foreseeable injuries, the law may affix liability and hold such a defendant liable for all of the Plaintiff’s reasonable and related losses.

If you have been harmed by the negligence or fault of a landowner, occupier, maintenance company or management group, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).

The fatal DC bike accident we commented on yesterday has revealed additional details.  The bicyclist struck and killed by a military truck Monday evening was a 68-year-old wife and reporter with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (“AAAS”).  The cyclist was in a collision with the military vehicle that was positioned near the White House in connection with the Nuclear Security Summit.  The 5.5-ton National Guard truck and bike rider collided at about 6 p.m. at the intersection of New York Avenue and 12th Street NW in the District of Columbia.  According to the report in the Washington Post, Maj. Gen. Errol Schwartz, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, said the truck was “pulling forward” to help block the intersection for passage of a motorcade when the incident occurred.

A police statement issued Tuesday said the truck was not part of the motorcade when the accident occurred. D.C. police are investigating the accident.  It does not appear that the cyclist was part of a training group or peloton speeding through downtown DC.  Once again, cyclist lawyer Doug Landau and everyone at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. hopes that a thorough investigation is completed promptly and that the cyclist’s family and friends are able to celebrate her life and accomplishments.

DC authorities report that a biker was killed in an intersection crash with a 5-ton military truck

On the way home from work this evening I was saddened by the news of a biker killed just blocks from the White House.  Washington, D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical personnel revealed that a female bicyclist was dead after being hit by a moving motor vehicle in downtown D.C. this afternoon.

WTOP News reported that the accident occurred around 6 PM at the intersection of 12th Street and New York Avenue in NorthWest Washington, D.C.  This is an intersection within the restricted area for the Nuclear Security Summit.  A D.C. National Guard spokesman says the vehicle that struck the woman was a five-ton military truck.  The truck was pulling into the intersection to block it off for a motorcade and failed to see the woman aboard her bike.

Military vehicles have different site lines in comparison to civilian cars and trucks.  Army vehicles designed for desert warfare or rough terrain may  have “blind spots” that are different than those experienced in passenger cars and pick up trucks.  Perhaps when National Guard vehicles are recruited to provide security in civilian settings with high pedestrian and bicycling volumes, it would be safer to realign and/or add mirrors and site lines in accordance with US city street and foreseeable road users.

Having represented children and adults struck by cars, trucks, dogs and taxicabs in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, our thoughts and prayers at ABRAMS LANDAU are with the cyclist’s friends and family.

Doug Landau and other top trial lawyers compare notes on Virginia's strict product liability laws and contributory negligence

The neighboring states of Virginia and North Carolina are very business friendly, especially when it comes to products liability laws.  Both Virginia and North Carolina still cling to the outdated notion of pure contributory negligence.   In other words, any fault that may have contributed to the happening of the accident, is fatal to the injured product user’s claim.  It is irrelevant whether or not any misuse was reasonably foreseeable.   If the Defendant product maker, seller or supplier was 90% to blame and the injured consumer was 10% careless, then in both Virginia and North Carolina, the injured person can recover for none of their damages or losses, even in a catastrophic brain injury or permanent disability case.

Most other states have adopted a modern approach that allows for comparing so that the claim can go to the jury, with the trial judge then reducing the amount recovered by the parties’ respective culpability.  So in the prior example, if the jury verdict was for $100,000, the trial judge would entered judgment in the amount of $90,000, after reducing the jury’s verdict by 10% for the Plaintiff’s own “contributory” or “comparative” negligence or “fault.”

Broadlands and South Riding product injury lawyer Doug Landau has always maintained that Virginia should adopt comparative negligence.  Our jurors are intelligent enough to apportion blame and our trial courts are well able to enter and enforce judgments.  Clinging to the outdated rule of “contributory negligence” simply encourages insurance companies to deny claims, clog the court houses, and confuse jurors who simply want justice.  If you, or someone you know, has been injured by a defective or dangerous product, please call us at ABRAMS LANDAU (703-796-9555) or e-mail us today, as there are time limits for cases involving defective and dangerous sports products.