Attorney
A Maryland jury found the State of Maryland liable last month in the 2008 death of a woman struck and killed by a car in District Heights. The Prince George County jury awarded $3.3 million to the victim’s relatives, with $2.5 million going to her daughter who was two-years-old when the pedestrian accident occurred. In August 2008, the woman and another person were walking along Pennsylvania Avenue when a car hit them. The woman’s companion died at the scene, and she later died at the hospital along with her unborn child.
The victim’s Maryland personal injury lawyer told jurors that the tragedy was preventable. Along the route they were walking at the time, there is a 200-foot gap in the sidewalk with no guardrails. The vehicle hit them as they walked in the gap. The attorney said that state officials should have built a sidewalk and/or guardrails to protect pedestrians in that area. The state’s assistant attorney general did not comment on the verdict.
A lack of safe pedestrian walkways has concerned residents for some time. Many suburbs have bus stops along the road but no crosswalks. Residents say that the local government designs roads to maximize the traffic flow with zero concern for pedestrian safety.
If you suffer injuries in a pedestrian accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation and damages. Contact a Maryland personal injury attorney at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis for more information.