Sadly, another bicycle rider has been killed by a driver, this time in Roland Park.
I have handled two high-profile bicycle death cases in Maryland in the last few years, and both of them were tragic. The first involved a bicyclist who was run over by a commercial vehicle in Baltimore City. That case also involved a hit and run, though the driver in that case never came back to the scene.
The second involved a Johns Hopkins student who was run over by an elderly woman.
These two cases were complicated matters on the issues of liability. What often can seem like clear cut cases to clients at first, often turn out to be more complicated, requiring the skills of someone seasoned at handling catastrophic injury cases. For example, the defense in these cases usually raise questions about whether the cyclist was properly and lawfully riding his bicycle, even when in a bicycle lane. This requires a reconstruction of the events to demonstrate that bicycle riders were not at fault. In these cases, we rely upon collision reconstruction experts and expect bicyclists to testify on such issues.
Compensation also is very important in these type of cases. Where a family member’s life is cut short, the family has not only lost a loved one but also lost substantial income. Replacing that income – so that rent, bills and education can still can be managed– are very important. This is done by retaining an experienced economist to calculate such losses.
Lastly, it is important to try and prevent something like this from happening again. For example, in one of my cases, the settlement required that the driver never drive again.
Our team in these cases includes attorneys with decades of experience in catastrophic injury matters, seasoned investigators and expert witnesses, former state’s attorneys and former federal prosecutors. Through this team approach, we have been able to obtain record results in cases like this.
We handle cases like these all of the time in my practice.
Contact Andrew G. Slutkin with further questions or inquiries at 410-385-2786