Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog

The family of Cameron Williams, one of the nine people killed in the June 22 Red Line train accident that is being called the worst wreck in the Metro’s history, has filed a Washington DC wrongful death lawsuit for $25 million. Their DC train crash complaint is accusing Metro of negligence and of failing to take the reasonable precautions to prevent the crash from happening.

Williams’s family is also suing Alstom Signaling Company, which is responsible for the circuit that failed to slow or stop the train so that the deadly collision wouldn’t happen. Depending on the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings once it concludes its crash probe, other defendants may be added to the DC train accident lawsuit.

The deadly collision occurred during rush hour close to the Fort Totten stop when one train crashed on top of another train. At least seventy people were transported to local hospitals.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that records indicate that the safety system that is supposed to help subway trains avoid becoming involved in collisions had malfunctioned just months before the June accident. On March 2, a train operator activated the emergency brakes to avoid colliding with another train after there was a problem with the Automatic Train Protection system. A failed component system on the train was identified as the issue. The NTSB is investigating the track circuit as part of its efforts to find out what caused the deadly June train accident.

Possible Causes of Washington DC Train Accidents:

• Operator negligence
• Mechanical failure
• Inadequate maintenance
• Conductor error
• Inadequate training
• Collision with another train, a motor vehicle, or a pedestrian
• Obstructions at rail crossings that prevent the operator from seeing
• Defective railroad crossing warning systems
• Defective train parts

Metro Crash Victim's Family Files Suit, My Fox DC, August 25, 2009

Records: DC Metro safety system failed before, AP/Google, August 9, 2009

Washington, DC Metro Crash: 9 Confirmed Dead, Worst Metro Crash Ever, Air America, June 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
DC Metro

National Transportation Safety Board

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 38 motorcyclists died in the District and the nearby jurisdictions in 2008. Now, according to Peter Horst of the American Motorcyclist Association, this figure is expected to grow for 2009.

Just this month, three motorcyclists were killed within a 36-hour period in traffic collisions involving other vehicles. With the economy being as bad as it is, motorcycle sales may have gone down, but riders who already have their bikes have been hitting the roads on them in an effort to save money on gas.

In 2008, the number of injuries and deaths for every motor vehicle category dropped—except for in the US motorcycle accident category, that is. Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland may have stayed counter to that trend last year—but as our DC accident lawyers reported earlier in this blog post, the figures this year are expected to be different.

Common causes of Washington DC motorcycle injuries and deaths include:

• Driver inexperience
• Driver inattention
• Alcohol
• Miscalculation
• Road defects
• Defective motorcycle parts

Like pedestrians and bicyclists, motorcyclists are more vulnerable than motor vehicle occupants, truck drivers, and bus passengers because they only have their gear as protection from the impact of a DC traffic crash.

Frequently, injuries from a DC motorcycle crash are catastrophic. If you believe there may be another driver or another party who can be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death, our Washington DC personal injury would like to talk to you.

Motorcycle Crash Facts

• 5,154 motorcyclists died in 2007.
• The number of motorcycle deaths increase each year.
• In 2007, about 123,000 motorcycles were involved in US traffic crashes.
• For every vehicle mile traveled in 2006, motorcycle riders had a 35 times greater chance of dying in a traffic accident than motor vehicle riders.

Motorcycle Deaths in Area Raise Concerns, The Washington Post, August 24, 2009

Motorcycle Crashes, Insurance Information Institute, April 2009

In Washington DC, a group of US Senators have introduced a bill that would mandate that all states develop laws that ban text messaging while driving—or face losing 25% of the federal highway funding doled out each year. The legislation gives states two years to write their own laws and establish deadlines.

The District of Columbia already has a ban on texting and using handheld cell phones while driving. At least 13 US states also have a texting while driving ban in place.

For some time now, people in DC and the rest of the United States have known that texting while driving is dangerous and increases the chances that a motorist will become involved in a District of Columbia motor vehicle crash. Drivers who are texting are not looking at the road. They are distracted because they are busy reading/sending/composing text messages. Also, in order to text while driving, a motorist must usually take at least one hand off the steering wheel.

The need to ban motorists from texting on the road became even more apparent last month, however, after findings from a study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reported that texting increased a truck driver’s chances of becoming involved in a truck accident by 23 times. The study also noted that right before near collisions or truck collisions involving texting drivers did happen, the trucker had spent almost 5 seconds glancing at the phone or PDA device. In that length of time, a motor vehicle traveling at highway speed can travel the entire length of a football field, passing a myriad of cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles along the way.

The federal government plans to hold a “distracted driving summit” in September so that academics, safety experts, police, elected officials, and others can discuss the bad habit that distracted driving has become.

There are far too many US traffic accidents occurring because a driver was texting or talking on a cell phone. People are dying, sustaining spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other catastrophic injuries because a motorist couldn’t wait to make that call or check an incoming message.

Federal Agency Plans Distracted Driving Forum, NY Times, August 4, 2009

Bill Seeks to Ban Texting By Drivers, The Washington Post, July 30, 2009

In Study, Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin, NY Times, July 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association, August 2009

S.1536 - Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act of 2009, Open Congress, July 29, 2009

Continue reading " Lawmakers in Washington DC Push to Ban Text Messaging While Driving " »

Duke University researchers, along with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, say that there are older adults who binge drink. While binge drinking is commonly associated with young adults and college students who drink too much to the point of inebriation, this latest research says that 9% of females and 22% of males between the ages of 50 and 64 have engaged in binging drink. The research, published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, comes from a survey conducted in 2005 and 2006 of 11,000 women and men.

13% of the woman and 19% of the men also reportedly had at least two drinks a day—a quantity that the American Geriatric Society considers “at risk” drinking for older adults, who don’t metabolize alcohol as fast as younger people and may be taking medication or be more prone to health problems that alcohol consumption can exacerbate.

Regardless of a person’s age, binge drinking—especially when done regularly, can lead to neurological injuries, alcohol poisoning, liver disease, and other injuries. It also can lead to Washington DC car accidents, truck collisions, motorcycle injuries, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian deaths if the person gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after binge drinking.

Beginning Friday, law enforcement officials in Washington DC will take part in a nearly 3-week long, nationwide, drunk driving crackdown. The campaign, called Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. will run through Labor Day.

In 2007, almost 13,000 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in the US because a driver or motorcyclist had a blood alcohol concentration of at least .08%. In 2008, there were nearly 12,000 DUI deaths.

Driving while drunk impairs a driver’s balance, eyesight, reaction time, and hearing. A drunken motorist whose judgment, self-control, and ability to sense danger are affected may not be able to realize that he or she is about to collide with another vehicle or pedestrian or is driving too fast or at a dangerously slow speed.

Drunk driving is negligent driving and can be grounds for a Washington DC wrongful death lawsuit or personal injury case.

Older people, too, knock back 5 drinks at a time, USA Today, August 17, 2009

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Kicks Off Nationwide Enforcement Crackdown on Impaired Driving, NHTSA, August 19, 2009

Related Web Resources:
American Journal of Psychiatry

How Alcohol Can Affect Safe Driving Skills (PDF)

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

Continue reading " Some Washington DC Injury Accidents Are Caused by Older Drivers Who Binge Drink " »

A 24-year-old woman has died from fatal injuries she sustained after falling off the top of the trunk area of a moving car. Dianne Grainger, who is from the Baltimore area, was seated on the vehicle that was leaving a private lot when she fell and she struck her head on the pavement.

The fall accident occurred around 12:30am on August 4. Grainger died on August 5 at Suburban hospital.

Head Injuries
Head injuries can be internal or external. Internal injuries may involve the brain or the skull, or vessels in the skull. Striking one’s head on the pavement, especially from great heights, at a fast speed, and/or with no protection to pad the impact upon contact can lead to serious traumatic brain injuries. TBIs, when severe, can lead to coma, permanent brain damage, and death.

Fall accidents, motor vehicle crashes, and sports accidents are the leading causes of traumatic brain injuries.

Signs that a person may be suffering from a brain injury:
• Loss of consciousness
• Concussion
• Post traumatic amnesia
• Encephalopathy (may include confusion, problems paying attention, memory loss, aggression, confusion, or stupor)
• Seizures
• Coma
• Unreactive or unequal pupils

If someone you loved was seriously injured in a fall accident and you believe that the incident happened because another party was reckless or careless, you may have grounds for filing a Washington DC personal injury lawsuit.

Woman Fatally Injured in Fall From Car in NW, Washington Post, August 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Head Injury, MedlinePlus

Traumatic Brain Injury, CDC

Continue reading " Woman Sustains Fatal Injury in Washington DC Fall Accident From Moving Car " »

Witnesses in Southwest Washington DC ran to the crash site at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Alabama Avenue on August 5 after a car collided with an SUV.

The SUV flipped over to land on its roof. At least two of the Washington DC car accident victims were trapped inside the vehicles. One of the vehicles burst into flames and some of the people who were trying to help used fire extinguishers. Rescuers also used the Jaws of Life to get the trapped victims out. One of the car crash victims sustained life-threatening injuries.

There were so many “rescuers” on hand because DC Mayor Adrian Fenty was about to arrive for a news conference to talk about new HIV initiatives. Camera crews who were waiting for the presser were able to capture the DC crash site on camera.

Mayor Fenty says the intersection where the DC car accident happened is a busy one. According to Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, about one traffic crash a month occurs near or at the intersection. She and other community leaders are discussing installing speed bumps, traffic lights, red light cameras, or stop signs on Pennsylvania Avenue because there is a six block radius where way too many DC car crashes happen.

Washington DC Car Accidents
If you were injured in a DC car accident, there may be a negligent motorist that you can hold liable for your personal injury. If the District could have or should have done more to prevent the traffic collision from happening, you also may be able to pursue personal injury recovery from the city or any other parties that are responsible for making sure that roads are safely designed and free from any defects that could increase the chances of a DC car accident occurring.

Southwest Washington DC Car Cash Injures Five People When SUV Flips Over the Other Vehicle, My Fox DC, August 13, 2009

Officials Join Passersby In Response to Crash, Washington Post, August 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
District Department of Transportation

Car Accidents: Proving Fault, Nolo

Continue reading " Southwest Washington DC Car Cash Injures Five People When SUV Flips Over the Other Vehicle " »