What if DC Metro Accident Were In Maryland?

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Greenberg & Bederman

 

The entire D.C. region is still coming to grips with the horrible accident that occurred on Metro’s Red Line on Monday. With the death toll at nine, and with 80 people injured, it’s the worst accident that DC transit has ever seen.

There seems to be a lot of stories involving fate with this crash. We have heard stories of people who managed to get through the crash unscathed while passengers who were sitting one car forward suffered horrible injuries. We have heard stories of people who were initially angry that they missed the train, only to be profoundly relieved once they found out that missing that train might have saved their lives. An event like this brings home the random uncertainty of daily existence, which, as accident attorneys, we are reminded of on a daily basis.

One random element of the crash was its location. The two cars collided just outside of the Fort Totten Metro stop, which is approximately 3,000 feet within the borders of Washington, D.C. Had the train been on the green line heading east, or if the crash had happened two stops away in Silver Spring or three stops away in Forest Glen, the accident would have occurred within the state of Maryland.

On the surface, that might not seem to be that big of a deal, but if you consider the differences between the laws of D.C. and Maryland, the site of the metro crash makes all the difference in the world.

The best way that we can put it is that under Maryland law, the victims of the crash are only really recognized as numbers, while in D.C. they are recognized as people.

 

If the metro train accident had occurred in Maryland, then the life of Major General David Wherley, former Commander of the D.C. National Guard and the man who scrambled jets over D.C. on September 11, 2001, would only be worth $200,000. The same price would be applied to his wife, Ann, who also died in the crash.

The life of Jeanice McMillan, the woman who was driving the train and the woman who died frantically trying to apply the brakes, would only be worth $200,000 in Maryland. This despite the fact that when the train hit she was desperately trying to slow the train down, and in doing so probably kept the crash from being even worse.

Ana Fernandez, mother of six children ranging in age from 21 to 1, is only worth $200,000 in Maryland.

LaVonda King, who was 23 years old, just started a beauty parlor up in Forestville, and had two children of her own, ages 2 and 3, isn’t worth anything but $200,000 in Maryland.

Veronica DuBose, who was 29 and also had two young children, was on her way to take more nursing classes so she could get better paying positions. Again, that’s only worth $200,000 in Maryland.

We could go on, but you get the idea.

The reason that there is an arbitrary financial limit on the lives of these people is due to the Maryland Tort Claims Act, which states that when people get injured or die and the responsibility can be laid on the state government, then the most that the victims can recover for non-economic damages is $200,000. And since Metro falls under the state government within the borders of Maryland, these are the rules that the victims’ families would have to work under if they attempted to receive compensation for their losses.

Had the accident happened just 3000 feet in a different direction, the husband and children of Ana Fernandez would have received just $200,000 and not a penny more, despite the fact that Mr. Fernandez lost his wife and that her six children don’t have a mother. Same with the families of Veronica DuBose, General Wherley, and all the other victims of the crash.

The District of Columbia, on the other hand, has no arbitrary limit on the amount of non-economic damages that injury victims can receive. The D.C. government realizes that Ana Fernandez has six children and a husband who are suffering through unimaginable pain. They realize that LaVonda King’s two children will never speak to their mother again. They realize that every single one of those victims have families and loved ones who no longer have them in their lives due to someone not doing their job properly.

All of those victims were people. They are not numbers on a ledger. They are not something to be protected against. And the difference between that realization and its opposite was, in this case, a mere 3,000 feet. It was another example of fate at work, but at least here it came down on the side of the victims instead of on the side of the organization that contributed to the accident.

Greenberg & Bederman is a personal injury  law firm, located one half block from the Silver Spring Metro station, one mile from the Washington, DC line.
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