The case stems from the death of a five-year old, who drowned in July 2006 at the Crofton Country Club pool. After hearing all of the evidence presented at trial, including information about the negligence of the pool operators and the impact the death has had on the parents, the jury awarded the family $4 million in compensation. However, under the Maryland damage cap, that jury award was cut to about $1 million.

The Maryland pain and suffering damage cap currently limits a plaintiffs damages to $725,000. However, the cap increases by $15,000 on October 1st of each year, so it was $665,000 at the time of this child’s death in 2006.

For Maryland wrongful death lawsuits where there are two or more claimants (in this case both parents presented claims), the court can award damages equal to 150% of the cap. Therefore, the family’s non-economic damages, including damages other than medical expenses, funeral expenses or other quantifiable financial loss, was capped at $997,500.00.

Caps on damages are imposed for all Maryland personal injury lawsuits, creating an unfair situation that does not provide adequate compensation to those who have suffered the most. Capping damages also results in a situation where corporations are able to act without regard to consumer safety, knowing that their damages will be limited regardless of the catastrophic impact of their negligence.

Plaintiffs argued at a hearing last week that the damage cap is also unconstitutional by interfering with the decision of the jury.

Although it is unlikely the Court of Appeals will strike down the 24 year old law, and reverse prior rulings that have upheld the cap, several courts from other states have recently overturned or limited the use of such jury award caps. This year, the state supreme courts in both Illinois and Georgia have overturned medical malpractice caps in those states, agreeing that they violate individuals’ constitutional right to a trial by jury.

Our Maryland personal injury lawyers have seen first hand the unjust impact that the damage cap can have by limiting the recovery for individuals who have suffered devastating loss and who are often left with a life-time of severe pain and suffering. It is impossible for the legislature to determine the amount of compensation an individual is entitled to as a result of the negligence of another. That decision is best left to the individual jury and judge who sat through the trial and heard all of the evidence presented.

The legislation, House Bill 825, increases the minimum required insurance for cars in Maryland from $20,000 to $30,000 for any single person and from $40,000 to $60,000 for the combined total for any one accident.

Motorists can (and should) purchase higher insurance for Maryland cars to protect themselves and ensure that they have more coverage in the event they are involved in an accident with a vehicle that only has minimal limits. However, many vehicles only carry the minimum required coverage, leaving many Maryland personal injury victims without adequate insurance coverage for their injuries.

Automobile insurance coverage not only protects motorists in the event that they cause an accident that results in a personal injury or wrongful death to another person, but it also provides coverage for their own injuries in the event that they are involved in an accident caused by an uninsured motorist of underinsured motorist.

While it is the opinion of our Maryland accident lawyers that the minimum insurance coverage in Maryland should be even higher, raising the floor from $20,000/$40,000 to $30,000/$60,000 would be a step in the right direction. The minimum insurance for Maryland automobiles has not been increased since 1972, while the cost of medical care associated with auto accident injuries has dramatically increased over the past three decades.

The House is scheduled for a final vote on this legislation tomorrow morning, so take this opportunity to email or call your elected official to show your support for this legislation.

A new Maryland traffic law will go into effect tomorrow, banning text messaging while driving in an effort to reduce the number of Maryland accidents caused by distracted drivers.

The new law will make it illegal to type or send text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Being caught texting while driving in Maryland will be a misdemeanor, subject to a fine of up to $500. It will also be a primary driving offense, meaning that police will be able to pull people over and fine them if they suspect them of sending text messages.

Going into effect October 1, 2009, the new Maryland law allows sending messages to contact 911, and does not ban talking on the phone while driving. Playing games and using applications are not banned by the law either, and the law does not explicitly address e-mail, using twitter or updating Facebook, but their legality is up for interpretation and engaging in such activities likely carries the same distractions as text messaging.

The law is seen as a victory for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which seeks to have texting-while-driving bans in all 50 states by 2013. The law goes into effect just before AAA’s “Heads Up Driving Week.” from October 5 through October 11, which is designed to bring attention to driving behavior and encouraging distraction-free driving.

A recent study by Virginia Tech has found that truck accidents are 23 times more likely when a commercial driver is sending text messages while driving. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute looked at a number of different potential distractions for drivers of cars and trucks by adding cameras and instruments to the vehicles of drivers. Above any other distraction, text messaging truck drivers were putting themselves and others at the most risk.

The results were compiled from several driving studies conducted by the institute, and the collected data equaled about six million miles of driving. Heavy vehicle and truck drivers were 23.2 times more likely than a non-distracted driver to have a truck accident if they were texting, 6.7 times as likely to crash while reaching for, or using, an electronic device, and 5.9 times as likely to have an accident while dialing on a cell phone.

Drivers of light vehicles and cars were at much less risk of having a car accident, but still faced a 2.8 times greater risk of crashing while dialing a cell phone than a non-distracted driver and were 1.4 times more likely to crash while reaching for an object and 1.3 times as likely to have an auto accident while talking on the cell phone.

Researchers from the institute said that it was the tasks that drew the drivers’ eyes away from the road ahead of them that were the activities with the highest risk. Sending a text message took a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds over a 6-second interval, which equates to driving the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the road. The study found that just talking on a cell phone, which does not distract a driver’s eyes from the road, made little difference in the likelihood of an accident.

Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for young adults and teenagers. According to data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of a car crash for teen drivers between 16 and 19 is four times greater than for older drivers.

Maryland teen drivers may soon be required to wait longer to obtain a driver’s license and further restrictions could be placed on their ability to drive at night. The new bills propose raising the teenagers to get a learner’s permit to 16 years old (it is currently 15 years, 9 months) and require that they wait until they are 16 years, 6 months before they obtain a restricted provisional driver’s license. They would not be permitted to get a full license until their 18th birthday.

The law would also require that teenage drivers in Maryland have their cars off the road before 11 p.m., as opposed to the midnight deadline for driving that is currently in place. The penalties for breaking these rules would also be stiffened.

If these bills are passed and enacted as law, hopefully have a positive impact on the safety of our roads and reduce the number of people who will need the services of our Maryland accident attorneys.