A formal indictment has been returned against two people who caused the death of two teenagers in Baltimore. The girls, age 16 and 17, were walking along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard when a car, speeding at more than 80 miles per hour, struck and killed them. The fatal car accident became a hit-and-run crash when the car sped away.
Fortunately, a Baltimore County policeman stopped the car after observing some significant vehicular damage. A woman was behind the wheel and a man in the passenger seat. It is not clear who was driving at the time of the accident because it is believed they switched seats shortly after the crash. The officer who pulled them over asked them who was driving and the woman said she was. The officer then asked the man what he was doing and he told the officer he slept through the entire incident. Both claimed they did not know what they had hit.
The two are facing criminal charges stemming from the hit-and-run accident. While the criminal charges may provide some measure of accountability for the wrongful conduct, the law specifically provides for another remedy allowing for the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages resulting from wrongful deaths.
The victims’ families may want to hold each responsible party accountable for their reckless behavior to the fullest extent of the law. A Baltimore County attorney well-versed in personal injury law and procedure may provide some comfort and fight to ensure reckless individuals causing fatal motor vehicle accidents are brought to justice.
Source: ABC 2 News, “City police make an arrest in a hit and run that killed two teenagers,” Jeff Hager, Sept. 20, 2011
