Landau Injury Law

The scene as I left Oakton Woods during this morning's Fairfax rush hour bike crash between Reston Parkway and the Fairfax County Parkway in Oak Hill, Virginia

Having seen and assisted at more car, truck and bike crashes than I can recount, I was nevertheless shaken this morning by the scene outside my neighborhood.  A biker had apparently been hit by a car and badly injured at West Ox Road and Ashburton in the Herndon – Oakton Woods area of Fairfax County, in Northern Virginia.  Emergency Medical responders and Fire and Rescue teams were dispatched quickly and several motorists had already stopped to render assistance to the fallen cyclist as he lay on the pavement between the two corners of Ashburton, across from Franklin Oaks Drive.

Before loading the injured cyclist into the ambulance, Fairfax County EMTs assess, secure and prepare to transport the injured biker this morning after an apparent crash at West Ox Road and Ashburton Avenue across from Franklin Oaks Drive

The EMTs and ambulance came to the scene of this rush hour bike crash and immediately set about to assess and then treat the injured athlete.  This car and bicycle crash occurred between Oak Farms Drive and the Fairfax County Parkway (Route 7100), about exits North of Fair Oaks Hospital.  The injured cyclist was being loaded onto a stretcher and had been placed in a neck brace to protect his neck from spinal cord damage as we were allowed to pass.  It brought home the fact that bike crashes can happen around the corner as well as far away on the trails, tours and race courses.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured cyclist and his family, and we hope that he gets appropriate medical care and recovers quickly.

If you or someone you know has been injured as the result of a bike crash, car accident or sports injury, please contact us by e-mail at ABRAMS LANDAU or call (703)-796-9555.

Broadlands Sprint Triathlon participants before the start of the race

At the Broadlands Sprint Triathlon today in Loudoun County, some 270 multisport athletes took to the streets.  Leesburg, Fairfax and Prince William bike injury lawyer Doug Landau wanted to try this TriPerformance event to test his early summer fitness.  Landau also likes competing in safe events like this, where the directors and volunteers take great pains to avoid accidents, crashes and injury.  The pre-race meetings and course previews are especially appreciated by the seasoned “Triathlon Trial Lawyer.”  In the transition area he discussed strategy with Alexandria General District Court Judge Moore, not for trials, but for triathlons !

The Broadlands Sprint Triathlon started with a 400 meter pool swim, followed by a slightly shorter than the advertised 12 mile bike ride, and ended with a curvy 5km.  The Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax County bike crash injury lawyer finished in the top 10, and was the first grand master, master and age group.  Today’s race raises funds for the Infinitive Foundation, which was established to support programs focused on health and enhancing family life. Proceeds from the Infinitive Race Series will support local and US Military families.

When can a local lawyer beat a sitting Virginia judge and NOT be cited for “contempt” ?

Doug Landau & "Race for Justice" Volunteer Ed Weiner after the inaugural event in the Tysons Corner area of McLean, Virginia

At the First Annual “Race for Justice” held at the Tysons Sport & Health Club this morning.  Several hundred Northern Virginia lawyers, judges, legal staff and family members turned out for this inaugural event, which raised money for the Fairfax Bar Foundation, which has pro bono legal assistance programs.  Many members of the Fairfax Bar Association came to run, walk and volunteer, as did members of the bench and Bar of Alexandria.

While it was hot and humid, the rain held and the competitors raced over the hilly 5km course.  Doug Landau had won the Sport & Health 5km for the National Orthopedic Hospital on this same course 2 years ago, but could only muster 7 minute miles, which is not fast enough to get into the top finishers.  The Herndon Reston injury lawyer then went on a nearly 50 mile bike ride past Leesburg before taking in his daughter’s soccer match in Loudoun County.  So it was a typical sports-filled weekend for the ABRAMS LANDAU TriathlonTrialLawyer, who also managed to squeeze in some gardening  before hitting the sack.

Ed Weiner who generously sponsors and volunteers at Law Day events, such as his firm's annual "Weiner Roast" shown helping out at the first annual Fairfax Bar Foundation "Race for Justice" run and walk

Having been a participant in Law Day USA celebrations since the 1980s, Chantilly, Centreville and Gainesville injury lawyer Doug Landau was excited to see that the Fairfax Bar Foundation is adding a running race tomorrow to today’s already popular “Weiner Roast” sponsored by his friend and co-counsel Ed Weiner.  This charitable sports event will help raise additional funds for the bar’s Foundation, much as the “FAB 5k” Landau directed in Old Town Alexandria for many years raised funds for the Alexandria Bar Foundation.

Established by the Fairfax Bar Association in 1982, the Fairfax Bar’s charitable Foundation supports local programs to improve the community’s access to justice and promote education regarding the legal system.  The Fairfax Bar Foundation’s programs are wide ranging from making a difference in the life of school students to ensuring everyone, no matter what economic background, has an equal access to justice.  The Fairfax Law Foundation is making a real difference in the Northern Virginia region.

Sports injury lawyer Doug Landau before the start of today's National Duathlon Championships, and before he knew he'd have to run barefoot !

The National Duathlon Festival was held this weekend in Richmond.  The United States Age Group Championship would not only determine who are the best Duathletes in the country, but who would make the World Championship team representing the USA in Scotland in this popular “RUN BIKE RUN” format event.  Herndon, Reston and Oakton area trial lawyer Doug Landau has competed in these championships several times, and this year he came well-rested, trained and ready for almost anything.  Landau even brought a second set of wheels and a spare bike helmet, in case anyone forgot theirs or had a product failure right before the race.

In order to be as ready as possible, the Virginia sports injury lawyer even rode the run course on Friday in order to familiarize himself with the venue.  He then ran some of the course, marking it with chalk, the next day.  However, even the most thorough preparations cannot eliminate an unlucky event.  While the weather reports predicted thunderstorms, and it rained so heavily Saturday night that the Triathlon Trial Lawyer saw several bikers skid and crash on the wet pavement, he saw many more walking their bicycles back to the transition area because they had gotten flat tires on the bridge expansion joints.  Because of the cooler weather, the Richmond bridge joints had opened up and presented a tripping hazard for race volunteers who were walking on the bridge and an obstacle for biker racers going 25 mph.

The race consisted of a 5k (3.1 mile) run, followed by a 38k (23.6 mile) bike ride, and then another 5k run.  Landau was 75% through the bike course when he hit an bridge expansion joint and flatted out.  However, rather than walking home or quitting the race, the ABRAMS LANDAU litigator left his bike shoes on his bicycle, and ran the bike back across the bridge to the transition area, a distance of about 3 miles ! And he did this barefoot ! Apparently a “DNF” (Did Not Finish) was not an option for Landau, who has finished every one of the nearly 1,000 races he has started !

Once he got back in the transition area, he put on his racing shoes and ran a 21 minute 5k and finished in just under 2 hours.  How did he manage to run on the highway and bridge without shoes ? Landau strengthens and toughens his feet and ankles so as to avoid injury by training barefoot whenever he can on sand, grass and artificial turf.  The former USAT Triathlon All American won last year’s “Playa Del Rey Beach Sprint” race barefoot.  Noted Landau, “just as with our personal injury jury trials, Social Security hearings and workers comp disability cases, I want to be ready for anything !“

Aquatic and swimming pool safety lawyer Doug landau

After writing to the local newspaper about the excellent response by Community Center lifeguards and aquatic safety personnel,  Herndon Reston accident and sports in jury lawyer Doug Landau was personally thanked by staff at the Herndon Community Center.  Having seen many sports and aquatic injuries, from slip and fall accident,s near drownings, and defective products, Landau revels in success tories such as this.  Too often lawyer Landau reads about complaints and gripes in the “letters to the editor” sections of Fairfax, Northern Virginia and DC metro area newspapers.  So, he periodically writes to newspapers and others when there is something to say about a positive response to a serious problem.  Stay tuned for future “Op/Ed” pieces from ABRAMS LANDAU’s founder Doug Landau.

Virginia Duathlon prize winner and sports injury lawyer Doug Landau shows off his "duck"

While still only 49 years old, Doug Landau is permitted by the rules of the United States  Triathlon Association to race as a 50 year old grand master.  How is that so ?  In multisport competition, you race as the age you will be on December 31st of the present year.  So lawyer Landau was able to participate in the Virginia Duathlon in the 50-54 age group.  The Herndon Reston triathlon trial lawyer wanted to test his mettle against the best duathletes in the state a month before the USAT National championships.  As he was attending the Virginia Trial Lawyers annual convention in Williamsburg concluded the night before, competing in the race in nearby Surrey provided Landau the perfect opportunity to participate.  The course was challenging, and the marshalls helpe d make sure there were no bike crashes or athletic injuries.  Landau finished the Run-Bike-Run 21st overall and 3rd in his age category.  What was the prize ?  A hand-painted decoy duck was his award, and it now sits on his proud mother’s mantle.  She finds it more tangible than the  “Super Lawyers” and “Best Lawyers in America” accolades her son has won.  Even more laudable was Mrs. Landau serving as a race volunteer on a cold morning in the Virgnia Tidewater.

The Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius.”  These Latin words mean “Swifter, Higher, Stronger.”  But at this winter’s Games in Vancouver, perhaps the motto should be “too fast, too steep, too dangerous !”

Concerned about injuries and death on the slopes of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Herndon sports injury lawyer Doug Landau wonders about the safety engineering at these Games

I had previously noted the fatal crash that killed the Luger from Georgia.  As pointed out by my new American Association for Justice friend and fellow New Jersey trial lawyer Anthony Sellitto, of Toms River, “the young luge athlete from Georgia loses control around a bend – hits the opposite wall and becomes airborne.  The video link is graphic.   The design problem is that right along the track they have a row of steel columns right next to the track that support the roof over it.  Sort of like the columns in the tunnel that killed Princess D.”   The Georgian Olympic athlete flew right into a column.  Why would anyone build something like this without thinking of what would happen if someone left the track which is expected to happen on a luge course from time to time ? I wonder if they send down unmanned, but weighted luges to see what happens once the course construction is completed.

Slowing this course down isn’t the answer – because luge athletes can lose control at slower speeds and become airborne at this curve.  They have to put up some type of protection in between or alongside the columns – sort of like a Jersey Barrier.  That’s what these Jersey boys think.  Engineering design requires that the greater the potential injury, the greater the care to prevent such harm that is required.

Oakton Chantilly Bike crash lawyer Doug Landau always wears his helmet, whether racing, touring or training

As hard-headed as he is, Oakton Chantilly injury lawyer Doug Landau still wears a helmet whenever he rides his bike.  Landau was pleased to see the recent results from Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute testing.  The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute (”BHSI”) submitted samples of six helmet models to a leading U.S. test lab: three in the $150+ range and three under $20. The impact test results were virtually identical. There were very few differences in performance among the helmets. The  conclusion: when you pay more for a helmet you may get an easier fit, more vents and snazzier graphics. But the basic impact protection of the cheap helmets tested equaled the expensive ones.

The results are a testimony to the effectiveness of our legally-required CPSC helmet standard. Although the testing sample was small, the testing indicates that the consumer can shop for a bicycle helmet in the US market without undue concern about the impact performance of the various models on sale, whatever the price level. The most important advice is to find a helmet that fits you well so that it will be positioned correctly when you hit.  The BHSI has a page up with details of the testing.  If you or someone you know has been injured in a car, truck or bike crash while riding their bike, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

The death of a young Luge athlete from Georgia  and a U.S. snowboarder suffering a serious brain injury on the halfpipe during a December practice remind us of the risks inherent in Winter Olympic sports.  While Ashburn accident lawyer Doug Landau notes that while winter sport injuries can  be permanent, athletes do not normally have legal claims since they are presumed to have “assumed the risk of harm.”  The winter triathlete lawyer points out that if an injured sportsman tried to bring a claim for his injuries in Virginia, a judge would instruct a jury that:

• “If you find by the greater weight of the evidence that the injured athlete fully understood the nature and extent of a known danger and if the disabled sportsman voluntarily exposed himself to it, the competitor assumed the risk of injuring himself from that danger.  The injured plaintiff CANNOT recover for injuries that resulted from assuming the risk of a known danger.” [from Virginia Model Jury Instruction 6.100]

This rule applies in Virginia and some other states no matter how serious or disabling the injuries.  Even if the sled or skiing crash or snowboarding fall results in death, this very strict common law rule applies in this jurisdiction.  According to a report in today’s USA Today there have been other serious winter sport injuries, including short-track speed skater J.R. Celski gashing his leg in a crash at the U.S. Olympic trials and several Alpine skiers injuring themselves on icy slopes.  Sports writer Vicki Michaelis notes that, “this season has brought a series of reminders of the perilous nature of many ratings-grabbing winter events.”  Lawyer Landau hopes that the remainder of the Winter Olympic Games are safe, injury-free and wonderful to watch.