Personal Injury Law

Maryland Injuries to Minor Lawsuit Claims Crossing Guard?s Negligence Led to Daughter?s Pedestrian Accident

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

The parents of young girl who was struck by an SUV outside an elementary school in Pasadena have filed a Maryland personal injury lawsuit on her behalf. Brooke M Monday was just 7 when the pedestrian accident happened in April 2006.

Brooke broke her jaw, left leg, and nose in the Maryland pedestrian accident that her parents say occurred because a crossing guard negligently waved her to cross the street just moments before she was struck by the motor vehicle. The defendants in the Maryland injuries to minor lawsuit include Anne Arundel County, SUV driver Alison L Hahn, vehicle owner David Fischer, and Monday?s insurance company. Brooke?s parents, Vernon and Jennifer Monday, are seeking millions of dollars in personal injury compensation.

According to the couple?s Maryland personal injury complaint, Deborah L Johnson failed to keep a proper lookout or enter the middle of the street when she told Brooke she could cross. The Mondays? attorney has even accused the crossing guard of being distracted from doing her job because she was conversing with a friend at the time the deadly Maryland pedestrian accident happened.

Johnson still works for Anne Arundel County and oversees the same intersection where Brooke got hurt. Meantime, Hahn, 17 at the time of the pedestrian accident, pleaded guilty to negligent driving in Maryland juvenile court. The Mondays have accused her of negligence and of causing their daughter unnecessary emotional and physical injuries.

In August 2006, Brooke transferred schools because she didn?t want to be known as the girl who was run over by a car. The couple also say that their son Tyler, now 12, suffered serious emotional trauma from witnessing his sister get hit by the SUV.

Adult school crossing guards play an important role in making sure that school children safely cross the street. They also serve as a larger, adult presence to remind motorists that they need to exercise caution, slow down, or stop because there are kids crossing the street.

If your son or daughter was injured or killed in an Anne Arundel pedestrian accident because a driver, a school crossing guard, or another party was negligent or careless, you may be entitled to Maryland personal injury recovery. As a minor, your child cannot sue the negligent party directly for Maryland personal injury, but you can file a claim on his or her behalf.

Lawsuit claims crossing guard was negligent, HometownAnnapolis, May 4, 2009

Adult School Crossing Guard Guidelines, SRTSGuide.com

Related Web Resources:
National Strategies for Advancing Child Pedestrian Safety, CDC

Pedestrians, Safe Kids USA

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).