"It's cosmically absurd!"

...that's how Maryland Delegate Luiz Simmons has described Maryland's current vehicular manslaughter laws that allow drivers to "just stroke a check" after causing a fatal wreck. The "cosmically absurd" phrase is Simmons', the "stroke a check" quote is one that comes from AAA MidAtlantic's Lon Anderson, who, last year in Annapolis gave an impassioned, emotional account of a number of fatal crashes.

And this year, AAA MidAtlantic and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association teamed up to go before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to push for passage of House Bill 363, a bill that would toughen the laws against vehicular manslaughter. The law would make it possible for judges to impose jail time and a fine.

Lon Anderson and WABA's Shane Farthing joined members of families who've lost loved ones to fatal wrecks to offer testimony to members of the Senate Committee. The bill made it out of the House Judiciary Committee, a major milestone according to proponents who point out the bill has stalled there year after year.

You can see the Maryland General Assembly's summary of the bill here: http://bit.ly/eVBLud

The offense would still be: a misdemeanor.

Final Push for a Bill to Toughen Maryland's Vehicular Manslaughter Laws

Maryland House Bill 363 is due for a vote in Annapolis on Monday, and the bicycling community--and families who've lost loved ones on Maryland's roads to vehicular manslaughter--are engaged in a last minute push to convince lawmakers to pass the bill. 

Ed Kohls, whose son Connor was killed by a man who paid a $1,200 dollar traffic ticket and was able to keep driving, is keeping a close eye on Maryland's House Bill 363, "Manslaughter by Vehicle or Vessel". This is the bill that passed the House and got hung up in the Senate over concerns it might be applied to broadly. It allows for a possible 3 year jail term and a fine, but the crime would still be a misdemeanor. 

Delegate Luiz Simmons has been the lead on the bill, calling Maryland's current vehicular manslaughter laws "cosmically absurd". In an e-mail sent on the eve of the vote, he wrote to WTOP "We are making furious efforts to save the bill and get past second and third reader and over to the House before midnight." Simmons is not new to the fight to toughen laws on vehicular manslaughter--he's been pushing the legislation for seven years now. 

Kohl, whose son was killed in 2008, has twice offered personal testimony--heard in WTOP's coverage of the bill-- about the grief he and his wife experienced, and their outrage over the fact that after killing their son, the driver was fined, only to continue driving and end up with a DUI conviction in a different case. He writes in an email to WTOP "My wife and I lost the love of our lives and must live out our life sentence every day."

While lawmakers, including Senator Brian Frosh, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee, have expressed reservations about the law, Kohls insists that it's reasonable, and the language closes a loophole that lets drivers with the most egregious records get away with a traffic ticket.

ICYMI: WTOP's Coverage of the Case of Natasha Pettigrew's Death

Guilty.

That was the verdict of a jury in the case of Christine Littleford, the woman who prosecutors said was behind the wheel of the SUV that killed 30 year old Natasha Pettigrew, the Green Party candidate for Congress in Maryland in 2010.

Pettigrew was out riding on Rt 202 in Prince George's County in September of 2010 when she was hit by the driver of the SUV who continued to drive for 4 miles with Pettigrew's bike still lodged beneath the car.

Natasha's mother, Kennis Henry, had been determined to see the case through from the very first investigation of the crash to the jury's eventual verdict. Henry joined other families whose loved ones had been killed by drivers on Maryland roadways to change Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws--laws one legislator called so lax as to be "cosmically absurd".

Littleford will be sentenced in August of this year.

Lane Change: 2011 A Look Back

Lane Change: 2011 A Look Back, a set on Flickr.

A look back at 2011

Making the Case...For and Against a New Vehicular Manslaughter Law

Supporters of Maryland House Bill 363, a bill supporters say would finally put teeth in Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws--adding jail terms of up to 3 years--are worried. The bill made it out of the House, but it could stall in the Senate. Here's why: one Senator critical to getting the bill out of committee, has real reservations about it. Keep reading to see what we're reporting on WTOP and to listen to past testimony from witnesses at the House hearing earlier in the session.

"It's cosmically absurd!" Maryland's Vehicular Manslaughter Laws

Maryland's House Judiciary Committee has failed to get a vehicular manslaughter bill out of committee for the last 6 years. Once again, Maryland Delegate Luiz Simmons is pushing to toughen the state's laws, but even on the 7th attempt, he says he's not sure what the outcome will be. Still, he's pushing HB 363 which would make vehicular manslaughter a criminal offense with a possible 3 year jail term and $5,000 fine. It would still be a misdemeanor.

The quote in the above headline comes from Delegate Simmons. You can find more on the air at WTOP News 103.5 fm and you can read a story based on what I filed on WTOP.COM. 

But here's some of the audio from witnesses in their own words.