HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) ―
A Fairplay woman has been fined $140 for negligent driving in a collision with a bicyclist that cost an 8-year-old boy his leg.
The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail reported Thursday Meghann Weaver, 21, paid the fine in December as part of a plea bargain.
Prosecutors dropped charges of reckless driving and speeding.
Deputy State’s Attorney Steve Kessell says there was no evidence that Weaver had used drugs or alcohol, which ruled out reckless driving in the Aug. 27 crash.
Victim David Greeley’s left leg was amputated at mid-shin. He also suffered a skull fracture, a broken jaw, a broken left arm and a fractured right leg
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CWL 2009 #12 Comparative
From The WashCycle:
Yesterday I wrote about how the criminal law system treats a road user who injures or kills another road user. But the civil law system is also in need of reform. In the Leymeister crash, the driver was found to be guilty of negligent driving and fined $313, but at least the family can sue her, right? Well they can, but it will be very difficult to win. Maryland is one of five states that use Contributory Negligence to establish damage awards. Contributory Negligence is
based on a policy originally established in England that stated a person who negligently causes harm to another cannot be held liable if that injured individual contributed to his own suffering and injury, even if it was only a very slight factor. For example, if Dave and Debbie were in an accident where Jane was injured, and Jane was only 5% at fault, she would recover nothing.
In fact, the standard is that if Jane was even 1% at fault she would recover nothing. With the numerous statements by the police that Leymeister’s lane position was a "major contributor" to the accident, it will be easy to convince a jury that Leymeister "contributed" to his death.
This method of calculating damages is still followed in states with a pure contributory negligence system. In light of the potentially harsh result, most states have moved from the strict nature of a pure contributory negligence system to some form of a comparative negligence system.
There are only 5 states that use pure contributory negligence and Maryland, DC and Virginia are three of them (Alabama and North Carolina are the other two). The UK, who gave us this law, has moved away from it as well.
In a DC case, an injured cyclist was unable to get any compensation after they were hit by a truck driver making an illegal right turn. The cyclist was found to have contributory negligence for not anticipating that a truck would illegally turn into him. (Here’s another Maryland case).
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Free Downtown Shuttle Service Starts Monday
By John Patti -WBAL
Baltimore City is introducing the Charm City Circulator. It’s a fleet of 21 free shuttles that will travel three routes in the business district of Baltimore City.
The service will begin January 11th at 11am and target residents, downtown employees, students, tourists and anyone else who wishes to ride.
The service is free to the rider. Barry Robinson, Chief of Transit and Marine Services for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation says the shuttle arrives every 10 minutes at the designated stops on each route.
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REFERENCE GUIDE TO FEDERAL AND MARYLAND. STATE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN LAWS AND. POLICIES
An MDOT document:
As interest in bicycling and walking increases in Maryland so has the need to understand laws and policies that provide the foundation for developing a well integrated non-motorized transportation network.
Federal transportation policy calls for mainstreaming non-motorized transportation. Specifically the policy promotes increasing non-motorized transportation to include at least a 15% of all trips and to simultaneously reduce the number of transportation systems and facilities .
?????SAY WHAT?????
Shouldn’t that be reducing fatalities? (Read more for the FHWA rendering.)
Continuing…
Continue reading “REFERENCE GUIDE TO FEDERAL AND MARYLAND. STATE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN LAWS AND. POLICIES”
CWL 2009 #11 Negligence
There have been a few crashes lately which have resulted in the death of a cyclist or pedestrian and a slap on the wrist (at best) for the driver who killed them.
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There are too many cases where drivers are killing people while driving in a negligent manner. In DC it’s a serious crime, in Maryland it is a traffic violation and in Virginia it’s just an accident. Both Maryland and Virginia need to start treating it like a crime so as to make all road users safer.
Photo by Velo_City
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Editorial: The bicycle insurance gap and what we can do about it
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Okay, ORS 742.502 requires an insurance company offering liability coverage to also provide uninsured/underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage as part of the package, so at least I had something to fall back on. And just to be completely clear about this: if you own a car and you have a liability policy and it has the required UIM endorsement, you are covered even if you get hit while you are on your bike or on foot.
But you gotta have the liability policy, which means you gotta have a car. Nobody is offering UIM coverage as a freestanding product to people that don’t drive. So when I got rid of the car about a year ago, I had to figure out what, if anything, I was going to do to insure against the risk that someone driving a car might hit and/or injure me.
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This cracks me up
American Bicyclist Update January 04, 2010
Be in the Know. Read bikeleague.org/blog
The League’s blog is the best way to stay on top of all the latest bike
news: advocacy, industry, education and current events! The easiest way to follow the blog is to subscribe to our blog’s rss feed. You can also follow our blog through NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.
news: advocacy, industry, education and current events! The easiest way to follow the blog is to subscribe to our blog’s rss feed. You can also follow our blog through NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.
National News |
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Advocacy Advance Helps you Find Federal Funding
As part of the continuing partnership between the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Bicycling & Walking, the Advocacy Advance Team has created a series of reports to help Alliance member organizations access Federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects including: Section 402 – Highway Safety Grants, Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Plan (CMAQ). For a brief description of each report, a request for more of your stories, and links
to other Advocacy Advance resources, visit our blog or the Advocacy Advance section of bikeleague.org. |
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NHTSA Comments
Recently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published Federal Register notices requesting public comment on several issues important to bicycling. Comments are due today but late entries might be considered. Review the League’s comments here. |
| Other News |
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Bumper Issue of
Active Living Research Published
No fewer than
20 papers on Active Living topics are now available in a special issue of Preventive Medicine – thanks to the Active Living Research program at San Diego State University. This incredible body of work includes another epic paper by John Pucher, Susan Handy and Jennifer Dill titled “Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An International Review,” as well as numerous studies of youth health issues and strategies for promoting more active lifestyles. |
The
League of American Bicyclists promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation, and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America. The League represents the interests of America’s 57 million bicyclists, including its 300,000 members and affiliates. For more information or to support the League, visit www.bikeleague.org. |
Per SHA this is bicycle safety???
Update to update: They lied the site is still up. After three months you would thing they could have gotten this fixed
Bicycle Safety Things to Know:
Did You Know?
* Children hit by cars can be killed, even when cars are moving slowly.
* Death can occur if your head is struck by a vehicle traveling as slow as 15 miles per hour.
* Children 1-2 years old are most often hurt by a backing vehicle.
* Children 3-4 years old are most often hit while crossing a street near home.
* Falls from tricycles or other play vehicles can cause serious head and brain injuries.
* Boys are much more likely than girls to be injured or killed in traffic.
* 75% of all biking related injuries requiring hospital treatment happen to children.
* 75% of biking related deaths involve injuries to the head.
* Brain injuries are preventable.
Future Harvest
Find your local sources for steaks, ground beef, leg of lamb, sausage, bacon, eggs, smoked hams, roasting chickens, handmade cheeses, goats-milk fudge, cheese-stuffed pasta, Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas geese, and more-all fresh from the pasture! This directory lists grass-based farms in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia that sell their products directly to consumers
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