A 26-year-old paralegal was walking through a downtown Baltimore crosswalk on her way to work on September 3 when an SUV struck her, and the driver — wearing a yellow Maryland Transit Administration vest — got out to inspect the vehicle for damage before driving off. Riah Luby was left with bruises, road rash and a painful leg contusion, and more than a week later she still has sore legs and hips and a large contusion on her left shin.
The collision happened at about 9 a.m. at Charles and Fayette streets, according to The Baltimore Banner. Surveillance footage obtained from a nearby building captured both the crash and its aftermath, showing the SUV traveling northbound on Charles Street before turning westbound onto Fayette Street, where the driver pulled over in a bus lane. The driver then checked the front passenger side of the vehicle for damage before driving away, per the outlet's report.
Bystanders rushed to help Luby after she was struck, and she was taken to a hospital by ambulance. X-rays showed no fractures, but the paralegal — who works at Franklin & Prokopik on Charles Street — said she is still dealing with the physical aftermath of the crash. She spoke to a Baltimore police officer about the collision and said she wants an apology and legal repercussions for the driver, calling the incident a hit-and-run, the same account notes.
A Colleague's Video Becomes Key Evidence
Jack Stephenson, a 24-year-old paralegal who also works at Franklin & Prokopik, was walking near Luby when the SUV struck her and said he witnessed the collision firsthand. Stephenson obtained the surveillance video from the nearby building, footage that has become central to documenting exactly what happened at the intersection, the report states.
Neither the Maryland Department of Transportation, which oversees the Maryland Transit Administration, nor the Maryland Transit Administration itself, nor Baltimore police responded to multiple inquiries about the collision, the same reporting indicates. That silence leaves open basic questions about whether the SUV was an MTA fleet vehicle and which agency holds investigative authority — a question with real teeth given that incidents involving MTA vehicles or personnel can fall under the concurrent jurisdiction of the MTA Police Department, a force with more than 180 sworn officers across the state, according to the MDOT Blog.
What Maryland Law Says About Leaving the Scene
Under Maryland Transportation Code sections 20-102 and 20-104, a driver involved in a collision that causes bodily injury is legally required to stop immediately, remain at the scene, render aid and provide identifying information, according to Justia Law. Violating that duty is a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in prison, a $500 fine and 12 points on a driving record — a criminal exposure that exists regardless of who caused the initial crash.
Separately, Maryland Transportation Code section 21-502 requires drivers to come to a complete stop, not merely yield, for pedestrians inside marked or unmarked crosswalks, per Westlaw. A crosswalk violation that contributes to a collision is its own misdemeanor, punishable by up to two months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Maryland law establishes an explicit duty to stop when a pedestrian is on the driver's half of the roadway or in an adjacent lane, meaning the two potential violations — fleeing the scene and failing to stop for a pedestrian — could carry separate penalties if a driver is identified and charged.
Downtown Crosswalks and a Rising Toll
The stretch of Charles and Fayette streets has long been a flashpoint for pedestrian conflict with turning vehicles; local observations note that pedestrians crossing on a green Walk signal at multi-lane downtown corridors face elevated risk where drivers turn across active crosswalks, according to the Baltimore Brew. Hoodline previously reported on a separate incident nearby when a silver Toyota backed into a building along the same North Charles Street corridor.
The crash also lands amid a documented rise in Baltimore traffic deaths. City traffic fatalities climbed from 46 in 2023 to 64 in 2024, with non-motorists such as pedestrians and cyclists accounting for more than half of all traffic deaths, and serious injuries rising from 437 to 508, according to the Baltimore City Department of Transportation's Vision Zero Action Plan as reported by Streets of Baltimore. A separate national analysis published in March ranked Maryland the 10th most dangerous state in the country for pedestrians struck by passenger cars, recording an average of 62 pedestrian deaths per year from 2019 through 2023, as Hoodline detailed in its earlier report on Maryland's crosswalk fatalities.
Maryland's Contributory Negligence Hurdle
Any civil claim Luby might pursue would run into one of the strictest liability rules in the country. Under Maryland's common-law rule of pure contributory negligence, an injured pedestrian found even 1 percent at fault for a collision is completely barred from recovering civil damages from an at-fault driver, according to Stein Sperling. Maryland is one of only five U.S. jurisdictions that still applies contributory negligence rather than comparative fault, making it critical for a pedestrian victim to establish they bore no responsibility for a crash.
If the vehicle turns out to belong to a state transit entity, additional procedural hurdles could apply. Victims seeking civil damages against the Maryland Transit Administration are governed by the MTA Tort Claims Act, which requires formal written notice of a claim within one year of the incident detailing injuries and damages demanded, according to SG Legal Group. For now, the driver has not been identified publicly, and it remains unresolved whether surveillance video will lead investigators to that person or what charges, if any, will follow.
