Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Young people do some of the strangest things growing up, most are harmless and lead to nothing more than a rebuke by a parent or police officer. There are other instances, where automobiles, motorcycles and commercial trucks are involved, when a simple lack of judgment results in serious bodily injury and sometimes even unexpected death.
Fatal car crashes and truck accidents are nothing new in metropolitan areas such as Baltimore, Cumberland and Hagerstown. As a Maryland auto accident lawyer and injury attorney, I and my colleagues have the training and experience to help victims and their families recover costs related to serious car and motorcycle wrecks, such as extended medical treatment, lost income due to a car crash, and other related expenses.
Not long ago a young man was killed while riding in a vehicle that was traveling eastbound along Davidsonville Road in Anne Arundel Co. According to witnesses, the 19-year-old resident of Silver Spring, MD, was leaning out the right rear window of a 2004 Chevrolet truck apparently trying to get the attention of some friends walking across a nearby field when the vehicle reportedly sideswiped a utility pole.
According to police reports, the accident occurred just before 6pm on a Monday afternoon. Emergency responders arriving at the scene found David Shigeru Yamamoto Hepner critically injured. Based on police information, Hepner was one of several occupants in the truck as it headed east on Governor Bridge Road with 18-year-old Zachary Taylor Bennett at the wheel.
Police stated that when the teens saw some friends walking in a field just south of the road, they yelled and waved, with Hepner hanging out the window from his waist. For some reason the vehicle moved far enough to the right of the roadway so that Hepner was hit by an approaching telephone pole. Two other passengers were in the vehicle at the time. Amanda Dawn Scott, 19, and Julia Sophianna Rubin, 18, were apparently uninjured as a result of the accident.
The young man was transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Based on the news article, there was no vehicle mechanical problem given that would have caused the vehicle to have moved so far to the right, however police did say that vehicle speed or alcohol were not apparent factors leading to the fatal accident.
Man, 19, hanging out truck window killed in crash with pole, Baltimoresun.com, Ocotber 19, 2010