The Impact of not Protecting the Vulnerable

[XLFD]

As noted back in "The Tragic Death of Stephen Marx", we at the Ludington Torch were concerned about what happened on the road to the retired computer forensics specialist when he was killed in Odenton, Maryland on October 19th, 2020.  Early one morning he was riding his bicycle and was hit broadside while crossing a parkway 

Early on, we had tried to secure a FOIA request through the investigating police agency to learn more about this crash, for some reason that did not go through, so we tried again recently with more success.  We humbly thank the Ann Arendel County Police for sending us the responsive police report dealing with the crash.  The report confirms the fairly detailed media versions of the incident that we used to present our analysis of the crash.  The diagram provided therein matches our earlier Google maps representation of how the accident reportedly occurred:

The media report we used (which reported the accident about 28 hours after it happened) has since been updated to add the passenger's name but nothing else.  The writer of the article appears to have been able to look at the standard police accident report I received, but they left off something of importance that should be related out of concern for bicycle safety.

Maryland is one of four states in the US where investigating police are given the power to determine who is at fault in a traffic accident.  When an at-fault driver causes a car accident, they will be responsible for paying for any resulting damages and medical bills; this differs from the no-fault provisions that Michigan has.  Such determinations of fault may be disputed in court, but rarely does a reasonable determination of fault by the investigating agency get overturned.   

When the question of whose fault an accident is appears unclear, a police agency in an at-fault state may initially file their crash forms by leaving their "at-fault" prompt blank or write in TBD (to be determined-- following an investigation).  Investigating Officer J. Hall did not have any reservations after viewing the scene, he found the motorist who ran into Stephen Marx to have been at fault: 

You may also notice that even though driver Steven Peguero was found at fault for plowing into the left side of Stephen Marx as he was attempting to cross the second southbound lane of a low speed (40 mph) parkway, Peguero was not issued a citation or arrested.  Recall the at-fault designation makes one found at fault responsible for medical bills and damages, but does not automatically lead to any criminal penalties.  

This leaves very little recourse for justice for bicyclist, motorcyclist, and pedestrian victims who get ran into and killed by negligent motorists, even in at-fault states.  Even when the victim has worked in law enforcement agencies for over four decades.  

Had Stephen Marx been in his own automobile and struck by somebody who was clearly at fault in Maryland, would the outcome have been different?  Perhaps; we can find plenty of articles on those who cause two-car accidents there and get charged with crimes.  Ask Christopher Fuller who bumped the back end of a slower moving vehicle, causing a death on December 23rd, and was charged with criminally negligent manslaughter.  Ask Mark Austin charged with two counts of manslaughter last July for allegedly going through a red light and causing two deaths in a car he crashed into.

It doesn't make any sense to make vulnerable users of the road even more vulnerable by not prosecuting negligent drivers who kill them, while making it a 'criminal crash' when the victim happens to be another motorist.