baltimorespokes

Nate just uploaded an old video from one of the Mayor’s Rides (I am in the purple shirt.)

Complaint alleges driver who hit Hopkins student violated multiple laws

By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun

The family of a comatose college student who was struck by a car while riding his bicycle near the Johns Hopkins University is suing the 83-year-old driver for $10 million, claiming she made an abrupt right turn into his path.

In a suit filed Monday, lawyers for Nathan Krasnopoler charged that Jeanette Marie Walke violated multiple traffic laws on Feb. 26 when she collided with the 20-year-old bicyclist as she turned into her apartment building on University Parkway.

According to his lawyers, Krasnopoler has remained unconscious at Johns Hopkins Hospital since the crash, which has stoked outrage among bicycling advocates over the Baltimore Police Department’s handling of the case.

Walke has not been charged in the case, though an investigation is continuing. A police spokesman initially said the driver would not be charged, but the department has since backed off that position, saying that decision would be made in consultation with the city state’s attorney’s office.

Anthony J. Guglielmi, director of the police public affairs office, said members of the department’s crash team have been meeting periodically with the state’s attorney’s office to discuss the case.

According to the lawsuit, filed by Baltimore lawyer Andrew G. Slutkin, Krasnopoler was riding in a marked bike lane at the intersection of University and W. 39th Street when Walke made a right turn across the bike lane and into the Johns Hopkins University student’s path.

The suit says that Krasnopoler was unable to stop the bicycle and struck the passenger side of Walke’s car, which then ran over him and pinned him on his back. According to the suit, Krasnopoler suffered severe burns because the driver left the engine running while the vehicle was on top of the victim.

Krasnopoler suffered two collapsed lungs, broken ribs and collarbone, facial fractures, eye damage and a traumatic brain injury, according to the complaint in Baltimore Circuit Court. The suit said Krasnopoler went into cardiac arrest when he was being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, and has remained in a coma since the crash.

Slutkin said that since the crash Krasnopoler has undergone extensive facial surgery. He said physicians will not know the true extent of Krasnopoler’s injuries until he comes out of the coma.

The lawsuit alleges that Walke violated a state law adopted last year requiring drivers to keep a 3-foot distance between their vehicles and bicycles when passing them. It also accuses her of negligent and reckless driving and other traffic violations.

Slutkin, of the firm Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White, was the lead attorney in a similar suit filed by the family of cyclist John "Jack" Yates, who was struck and killed by a truck driver in 2009. The plaintiffs and defendant reached a settlement in that case last year despite an initial police finding that the bicyclist was at fault.

In that case, Slutkin said, the plaintiffs were able to overturn the police investigation through video analysis, crash reconstruction and deposition of witnesses.

In the Krasnopoler case, Slutkin said, the family decided after the initial police statement that they wanted an independent investigation. The lawyer said his firm interviewed witnesses and has learned that police have since spoken with some of the same people.

Slutkin said his firm is hoping additional witnesses will come forward. [See: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110309130612695 ]

The attorney noted that the crash, like the Yates case before it, has received a great deal of attention from bicycling advocates. "The bicycling community feels the police are not sensitive to the laws that exist in Maryland to protect bicyclists," he said.

Carol Silldorff, executive director of Bike Maryland, said Baltimore police either rule a bicyclist at fault or decline to make a report in a disproportionate number of bicycle-vehicle collisions. "I think there’s a perception that too many times accidents go unreported and it’s a struggle to get a report written up that the motorist is at fault," she said. [Ref: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=2011030523251899 ]

After hearing protests from Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke and others early this month, the Police Department apologized for the statement issued by its public affairs office.

"At this point in time, no charged have been filed and it is premature to speculate on potential next steps as this case is still very much open," the department said.

Guglielmi said a spokesman in his office has been "misinformed" when making the original statement that the driver would not be charged.

Walke could not be reached to comment.

Baltimore Sun reporter Tricia Bishop contributed to this article.

Continue reading “Comatose bicyclist’s family sues 83-year-old driver for $10 million”

The failure of city and state transportation officials and Baltimore police to provide motorists with guidance on how to safely make right turns when bicyclists are present has been a key reason why bicyclist John Yates was killed and Hopkins student Nathan Krasnopoler remains in a coma ("Student in coma after bicycle accident" Feb. 28).

Both bicyclists followed Maryland’s instructions to ride right and were hit by right-turning vehicles that failed to yield. Both tragedies were compounded by failures of city police to cite the respective drivers. In the case of John Yates, the police misapplied Maryland’s motorcycle laws, which prohibit lane sharing, to bicycles, saying that the bicyclist was illegally riding in Maryland Avenue’s parking lane.

Since Mr. Krasnopoler was riding safely in University Parkway’s bike lane, the police had to find some other reason for saying the motorist wasn’t at fault. Consequently, the police said that Mr. Krasnopoler ran into the front of the car that passed him and turned right. But how is a bicyclist traveling in a downhill bike lane around 25mph supposed to know that after passing him, the motorist will slow down and abruptly turn right across his lane into the Broadview Apartments private driveway? Other than disobeying the law and not using the bike lane, I don’t see how Mr. Krasnopoler could have avoided the crash.

But the motorist could have easily slowed down, safely merged into the downhill bike lane behind the cyclist, and waited for the cyclist to clear her driveway before turning right. And even if she choose not to do so, after passing the cyclist the motorist could have stopped and yielded before crossing the bike lane to turn right into her driveway — as Maryland’s three foot law requires. And the police compounded the tragedy and lost a teachable moment by failing to ticket the driver.

Bicyclists want to be courteous and share the road. But most importantly, we want to be able to arrive without injury. Being polite and riding far right and using the bike lane to make it easier for motorists to pass has cost one bicyclist his life and put another in a coma. Without the police and media willing to provide guidance to stop these tragic "right hooks" from happening again, bicyclists need to put safety first, even if it slows down motorists.

This means not riding in the door zone and avoiding bike lanes in areas where right turns are authorized — especially if riding fast. Perhaps the day will come when Baltimore City adds motorist education, police training and impartial law enforcement to its bicycle program. That will enable bicyclists to ride far right and use bike lanes without injury.

Jeffrey H. Marks, Baltimore
Continue reading “Stopping tragic ‘right hooks’ that kill and injure cyclists”