Motorcyclists More Prone to Serious Injury - By: Patricia Woloch

On September 27, 2002, 18-year-old Michael Mairs was driving in New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway with two 18-year-old passengers in the car. Mairs was intoxicated, and his car collided into the back of a motorcycle driven by 40-year-old Antonios Podias, who was thrown from the bike one hundred feet. Mairs’ vehicle left the southbound lanes, crashed through a guardrail, and finally came to a stop in one of the express lanes of the Parkway.

Two passengers in Mairs’ car fled the scene of the accident and left Podias there on the ground; Mairs did not flee and he called his girlfriend on his cell phone and waited for her to come to him.

Tragically, after the accident, while Podias was still lying on the roadway helpless and alone, another car ran over him and killed him. The impact crushed his chest, punctured his heart, and he bled to death.

Podias was a well-liked professional man who managed a restaurant and had two young sons who are now teenagers. A drunk Michael Mairs and his two passengers made 44 cell phone calls within a 2.5 hour period following the crash, but not one single call was to 911 or a police or emergency medical service department.

In June 2007, an appellate court in New Jersey ruled that the teenagers had an obligation to help the injured man. Instead of helping the motorcyclist, the three men argued about what to do after the accident and decided to run leaving the injured man on the highway to die.

Mairs and his passengers, Andrew K. Swanson, Jr. and Kyle Charles Newell, were returning to Monmouth University from a party when the crash occurred. Swanson got out of the car, saw the motorcyclist and told the others he thought he was dead; they drove away and when they crashed shortly after, the two passengers ran into the woods.

Jeffrey Peck, a lawyer for the widow, Sevasti Podias, said, "They could have easily called 911, or stayed with the body to prevent someone from running over it. Newell and Swanson called everyone but the police."

Mairs was tracked down by state troopers several hours after the crash and was still drunk. He claimed initially that he had been alone in the car and was not even aware that he hit anyone. Months later, Mairs finally admitted he had passengers in the car and that they lied about what happened that night.

Podias' widow sued both drivers, the two passengers, the party host, and some of the teens' parents. Mairs settled for just over a million dollars. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, underage drinking and driving after consuming alcohol; Mairs served 13 months in jail. Swanson and Newell were later dismissed in the lawsuit by state Superior Court Judge Edward Oles, who ruled that "there is absolutely no testimony that either Newell or Swanson encouraged Mairs not to call the police and to leave the scene of the accident or to substantially assist Mr. Mairs in that endeavor."

Podias' widow appealed that ruling with her attorney arguing that there was clear evidence that the three men argued about what to do immediately after hitting Podias.

All other defendants in the lawsuit have resolved their cases.

About the Author

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a motorcycle accident in Maryland, Virginia or the Washington, D.C. area, please contact the experienced vehicle accident attorneys at Chainkin Sherman Cammarata Siegel, P.C. today to schedule your initial consultation.

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