Marvin Mandel, Governor                        1719

his urine, twenty one-hundredths of one per centum (0,20%), or
more, by weight, of alcohol, it shall be prima facie evidence that the
defendant was in an intoxicated condition.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby
declared to be an emergency measure and necessary for the imme-
diate preservation 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 May 28, 1971.

CHAPTER 784
(House Bill 857)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 4 (a) of
Article 67 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1970 Replacement
Volume), title "Negligence Causing Death," to change the time
within which an action must be commenced.

Whereas, the General Assembly desires to bring the statute of
limitations for wrongful death actions in uniformity with that of
other negligence actions.

Whereas, there is no logical reason for the variance between the
time limits for commencement of actions.

Whereas, citizens may be misled to their detriment by the variance
between the respective statutes of limitations resulting in an undue
forfeiture of rights.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 4(a) of Article 67 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1970 Replacement Volume), title "Negligence Causing Death," be
and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read
as follows:

4.

(a) Every such action shall be for the benefit of the wife, hus-
band, parent and child of the person whose death shall have been so
caused or if there be no such person or persons entitled then any
person related to the deceased by blood or marriage, who, as a
matter of fact, was wholly dependent upon the person whose death
shall have been so caused. "Parent" shall include the mother of an
illegitimate child whose death shall have been so caused; "child"
shall include an illegitimate child whenever the person whose death
is so caused is the mother of such child; and in every such action the
jury may give such damages as they may think proportioned to
the injury resulting from such death to the parties respectively for
whom and for whose benefit such action shall be brought, and the
amount so recovered, after deducting the costs not recovered from