TheAthletesLawyer

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.

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the estate of a deceased cyclist in Maryland against a truck driver and his employer after the driver accidentally hit and killed a bicyclist last summer.  The 67-year-old biker became caught in the rear wheels of the truck as it made a right turn. The civil lawsuit claims that the driver was negligent because he failed to signal for the turn and did not look to see if “it was clear and free of traffic – cyclists or pedestrians.” The lawsuit alleges driver negligence and is seeking $5 million in damages according to the Baltimore Sun.

The biker was riding his bike south on Maryland Avenue behind a truck when he became caught in the vehicle’s rear wheels and was run over as it turned right on Lafayette Avenue, in the Charles North neighborhood, police said at the time. The bicycle rider died at the scene.  The attorney representing the biker’s family, contends that the truck driver and his employer were negligent because a surveillance video shows the driver turned right without signaling.  Also, “he took a right turn without making sure it was clear and free of traffic – cyclists or pedestrians,” added plaintiff’s counsel.  Furthermore, the lawyer for the cyclist contended that the rider was not at fault because laws require bicyclists to stay with the flow of traffic, as far to the right as possible.

But investigators found that the cyclist was at fault because he was riding in parking lanes and tried to pass the truck on the right, which is illegal in Maryland, according to a city police spokesman.  Police investigators concluded that the biker drove into the truck.  No charges were filed against the trucker. The truck, a loaded fuel tanker, did not stop after the accident, but investigators do not believe the driver was aware of it. According to the accident report, police found a vehicle two days after the collision at a Falls Road service yard that matched the one in the surveillance video. DNA testing of hair and blood on the truck’s tires confirmed that the samples belonged to the Defendant truck driver, however, according to a police spokesperson, “it was inconclusive as to what caused the accident.”

The parents of a 7-year-old boy who died on an amusement park ride have tentatively settled their lawsuit against a New York county for $1.25 million.  According to the NBC news report, the Defendant County also agreed to set up a scholarship in the boy’s name.  The settlement was announced in the state Supreme Court in White Plains.  The boy’s parents, from Norwalk, Connecticut, had accused Westchester County of negligence in their son’s August 2005 death as the county owns the amusement park.  The boy was on Playland’s Ye Old Mill, an indoor boat ride.  He got out of his boat soon after the ride started and somehow ended up in its channel of water, dead from a blunt head injury.  Officials acknowledged that the ride was understaffed.

Town of Herndon and Leesburg injury lawyer Doug Landau has represented the families, workers and children who have been injured at playgrounds, amusement parks, fairs and circuses.  If you or someone you know has been injured or involved in a fatal accident at an amusement park, fair, circus or playground and has questions about the laws governing claims for restitution, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Herndon Injury and accident lawyer Doug Landau was contacted this week by the news in follow up to a fatal hit and run. Our client was crossing the street across from the amusement rides where he worked when a car crashed into him and then fled the scene. Our client sustained fatal injuries and died shortly after the impact with the car. The police have found a car with damage that matches the impact with my client’s body, and they are tracking down the owner and operator. No charges have yet been filed, and it appears that the car was reported stolen. However, the car crash happened at about 9 PM, and the stolen vehicle report was not made until several hours later. The client’s family has made arrangements and we have filed a claim on their behalf. However, until the police investigation is completed, what actually happened will be unclear.

Even during optimal long distance running conditions, fatalities occur. The deaths of 3 runners during the Detroit Marathon races underscore the importance of seeing your doctor and having regular check ups when undertaking physically challenging exercise events such as the marathon or half marathon. Despite plenty of fluids and careful pacing, Doug Landau collapsed at the finish line of his first half marathon while competing for the United States Maccabiah team in 2005. Recovering from leg cramps over the next several hours, the Herndon Reston area sports injury lawyer noted that he had fully prepared for the heat, but the distance was challenging. Landau has since run another half, in Cambridge Maryland, where he won another age group award, but was freezing from the cold !

Runners who collapse or suffer heart attacks are rare, but checking with your doctor before racing is a good idea.

In the Michigan running race, all three men collapsed without explanation, though the cold weather was not thought to be a factor. According to the Detroit Free Press, it was some 41 degrees at the time, which is considered good for such long distance racing.  The Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon yesterday had more than 19,000 people registered to participate in its 32nd running. There were at least six medical stations on the race course and emergency personnel were on the scene within seconds.

Deaths at marathons are relatively rare. The last death at the Detroit event was in 1994 when a 42-year-old man died of a heart attack after running more than 20 miles. Every runner must sign a medical release form, and they are encouraged to talk to their doctors before they run the race. “On a day when so many people bring such energy and challenge themselves to do their utmost, this news is very difficult to hear,” said Free Press editor and publisher Paul Anger said. “Our deepest sympathies are with the families.”