Tyler v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

Per Curiam : This appeal involves a notice of intention to make claim filed by George P. Tyler, the appellant, under the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund statute, Code (1957) Article 66)4, Sections 150 to 179, Chapter 836 of the Laws of 1957, as amended. ' The appellant, a 52 year old heavy equipment operator at Fort Meade for 21 years and a volunteer fire fighter with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, was struck and severely injured apjDarently by a hit-and-run driver of a motor vehicle on Maryland Route 424 on September 26, 1965. The notice of intention to make claim was not filed until April 26, ⁴¹ 1966, or 35 days after the 180 day period after the accident required by Article 66}4, Section 154 (a). Section 154 (a) makes the filing of notice of intention to make claim “a condition precedent” to the right to apply for payment front the Fund unless the claimant can prove to the court that he “was physically incapable” of giving the notice within the 180 day period and gave the notice “within 30 days after he became physically capable” so to do. 1 In Mundey v. Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund Board, 233 Md. 169 , 195 A. 2d 720 (1963), in which we sustained a trial court’s denial of a right to sue when the notice was one day late, we construed the words “physically incapable of giving notice” in Section 154 (a) and held that these words “clearly import a greater incapacity than mere inability to give notice in person or to give notice only with difficulty. The mere fact that a patient is hospitalized, or confined to bed and a wheel chair would not necessarily prevent communication.” ( 233 Md. at 172 , 195 A. 2d 721 .) See also Hart v. Comm’r of Motor Vehicles, 226 Md. 584 , 174 A. 2d 725 (1961).

The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County