$400,000 Verdict Wrongful Death / Police Officer Drives into Pedestrian

A Maryland State employee failed to see a stopped vehicle with its hazard lights activated on the highway and swerved into the shoulder, striking, and killing a man who had pulled onto the shoulder to retrieve a washing machine that fell out of the back of his pickup truck onto the roadway. The Yost Legal Group represented the family of the man who was struck and killed for the emotional harm suffered by the loss of their loved one. The State argued that the man was contributorily negligent and responsible for his own death in failing to properly strap-down the washing machine to his vehicle. The Yost Legal Group successfully argued that the deceased man’s negligence, if any, was not the proximate cause of the collision, and the judge agreed, awarding $400,000 to the family, the most money that can be awarded against the State of Maryland under Maryland law.