The families of three men killed on the Bay Bridge in 2007 after a trailer detached from an SUV are claiming the state is partially to blame for the ensuing seven-vehicle pileup and the deaths of their loved ones.
In a $19 million wrongful-death lawsuit filed earlier this month, the families of James Hewitt Ingle and father and son Randall and Jonathan Orff argue the Maryland Transportation Authority was negligent May 10, 2007, when it allowed two-way traffic on the bridge's westbound span.
They noted previous wrecks and fatalities while two-way traffic was in effect on the bridge, and said the state should have known it needed barriers to separate lanes and a notification system to warn drivers of the "dangerous and perilous condition" awaiting them.
Officials with the transportation authority - the agency responsible for the bridge and one of eight defendants named in the suit - declined to comment on the allegations.
However, Sgt. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for authority Police, said shortly after Ingle and the Orffs were killed that two-way traffic did not contribute to the crash.
"If the trailer had not come unhitched, there would not have been an accident," he said, echoing similar comments included in a police report that downplayed the significance of two-way traffic with regard to the accident.
In addition to the transportation authority, the lawsuit names as defendants the driver of the sport utility vehicle, Stephen Adam Burt of Rockville, the owner of the trailer, Levon Andonian of Gaithersburg, two truck drivers involved in the pileup and their employers.
Burt and Andonian could not be reached for comment, and it is unclear who will represent them in the lawsuit, which was filed April 1 in county Circuit Court.
Paul D. Bekman, the attorney representing the victims' families, said his clients' loved ones did not have to die.
"This was a preventable tragedy," said Bekman, who is representing Esther Marie Orff, Randall's wife and Jonathan's mother, and Debra Sue Ingle, James Ingle's wife. Brandon Orff, Randall's surviving son, also is named as a plaintiff.
According to the lawsuit, on the day of the wreck two-way traffic was in effect on the three-lane westbound span. The right and center lanes remained westbound, while the left lane was eastbound.
Police said Burt was driving his 2000 Lincoln Navigator west across the Bay Bridge at about 4 p.m. when a homemade trailer he was hauling came loose. The trailer slid into the path of the Orffs' eastbound vehicle - ultimately resulting in the seven-vehicle pileup.
Randall Orff, 47, of Millington, and his son, Jonathan, 19, died in the wreck, as well as Ingle, 44, a former Crofton resident who worked in west county at the time.
No charges were filed against Burt, though the safety chains he used were too long and he did not use a hitch pin to secure the trailer.
Police said "no current regulations exist that can be applied to the proper securement of a trailer by the public in a noncommercial manner," and prosecutors said "it is unlikely that a reasonable person would have anticipated that the trailer would break loose."
The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of Burt regarding the operation of his vehicle and that Andonian was negligent when he built the trailer without a safety hitch pin. It also alleges the drivers of two tractor-trailers involved in the wreck were negligent; that they were driving too fast under the circumstances and failed to control their vehicles.
Fifteen months after Ingle and the Orffs were killed on the westbound span of the bridge, there was another fatal accident on the eastbound span. Two-way traffic also was in effect that day.
Police said John R. Short, 57, of Willards, in Wicomico County on the Eastern Shore, was driving a tractor-trailer west across the bridge at about 3:50 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2008, when an eastbound car veered into his lane. He swerved left, smashed through a concrete barrier and careened into the Chesapeake Bay. Short died in his rig.
Officials continued to defend two-way traffic after that wreck.
Ronald Freeland, executive secretary of the MTA, said at a news conference, "Two-way traffic is not the optimum way to do business," and that the MTA tries to minimize its use.
But authority Police Chief Marcus Brown argued two-way traffic can be safe.
"We actively manage the risk that is involved," he said.
The defendants
The families of three men killed in a 2007 multi-car crash on the Bay Bridge filed a wrongful-death civil lawsuit this month, naming the following eight entities as defendants:
- Maryland Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees the Bay Bridge.
- Stephen Adam Burt, driver of the SUV hauling a trailer that detached and caused the seven-car pileup.
- Levon Andonian, owner of the trailer that caused the accident.
- Joshua Hargrove, driver of a tractor-trailer involved in the crash.
- Mobile Mini Inc., a Tempe, Ariz., company that employed Hargrove.
- Edwin Dixon, driver of a second tractor-trailer involved in the crash.
- AG Trucking Inc., a Goshen, Ind., company that employed Dixon.
- Travelers Property Casualty Co. Of America, the company that issued the car-insurance policy for one of the men killed in the crash.
What Inspections? - April 28, 2009
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking
Ron Melancon - Glen Allen, VA
Report Abuse 0
What's This?
Trailer Inspection - April 27, 2009
To clear up some misinformation, All home-made trailers must have a MARYLAND SAFTEY INSPECTION CERTIFICATE to be registered in Maryland. I just checked with the MD-DMV and verified this information. Either the trailer was improperly tagged or the inspector did a negligent job inspecting the trailer. Somebody has some explaining to do! I can not figure out why the driver pulling the trailer and the trailers registration is not getting more attention. I know if it was me I would have been charged with everything under the sun, including unsafe operation of a vehicle, reckless driving etc... I pull several trailers and my insurance policy covers everything attached to my vehicle, just as everyone elses should. I do not and would not pull a homemade trailer. Too bad newspapers don't do investigative journalism anymore, someone somewhere is covering up something in this mess!! Giving all that I feel bad for the people that lost family members and wish them the best, if thats possible.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking
S R. - ,