MARVIN MANDEL, Governor

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That Section 2 of said Chapter
421 of 1966 as amended by said Chapter 755 of the Acts of 1968,
be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to
read as follows:

2.

This Act shall expire automatically on June 1, [1969] 1970 with-
out further action on the part of the General Assembly and shall be
null and void after said date.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby declared
to be an emergency measure and necessary for the immediate preser-
vation of the public health and safety and having been passed by
a yea and nay vote supported by three-fifths of all the members
elected to each of the two houses of the General Assembly, the same
shall take effect from the date of its passage.

Approved April 23, 1969.

CHAPTER 352
(House Bill 774)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 4 of
Article 67 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement
Volume), title "Negligence Causing Death," to change the manner
of determination of damages in an action for damages for the
wrongful death of a person, including SPOUSE OR a minor child.

Whereas, In actions by those entitled under the wrongful death
statute for the death of a person or a minor child, the "pecuniary
loss" rule or the "pecuniary benefit" rule has been adopted by the
Court of Appeals to determine the measure of damages in such cases;
and

Whereas, The "pecuniary loss" or "pecuniary benefit" rule in the
case of the death of an adult is determined by measuring the present
value of the pecuniary benefit which those entitled might reasonably
have expected to receive from that person, had that person not been
killed, and in the case of a minor's death, it is determined by measur-
ing the pecuniary worth of the services which the child would have
rendered during his life and to subtract from this probable cost of
his maintenance, education and upbringing; and

Whereas, Strict application of this test in the case of an adult
results in a failure of those entitled to recover to be compensated for
the loss of probable future companionship, society, comfort, and for
mental anguish, and in the case of a minor's death, the strict appli-
cation of this test results in a minus figure, since the value of his
services lost by death in modern society is generally much less than
the probable cost of raising the child; and

Whereas, It is desirable to substitute a valid test for determining
damages for the fictional test of the "pecuniary loss" or the "pecuni-
ary benefit" rule in which emotional factors frequently enter; now,
therefore,