Highway design cases handled by Casey Gerry

Casey Gerry's California highway design attorneys have successfully represented Southern California individuals who have suffered serious injuries and families who have lost loved ones as a result of dangerous roadway conditions. Here are some cases in which our highway design attorneys fought to secure just compensation for our clients:

Danger to runners and other pedestrians

One of Casey Gerry’s most important highway design cases was brought against the County of San Diego on behalf of a runner who was seriously injured in a roadway that allowed vehicular traffic into a designated pedestrian walkway. The county made no offer to settle on the case, and at the time of the trial, the County of San Diego had had prevailed in 17 consecutive highway design trials.

At the walkway, large bushes had grown in from the corners, blocking cars from seeing approaching pedestrians. In trial, Casey Gerry’s highway design attorneys were able to show that the pedestrian area adjacent to the road was used extensively, and the county had failed to create sufficient separation to protect pedestrians, especially children, from the vehicles. Videotape testimony showed cars very frequently veering into the pedestrian area because of the nature of the curve on the roadway.

The jury ordered a verdict of over $3.4 million for the injured victim, the largest highway design award ever awarded against the County of San Diego. The county appealed, and both the Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court upheld the original decision. This decision not only resulted in appropriate compensation for our injured client. It also helped to increase awareness among Southern California public entities with respect to safety concerns for pedestrian and bicyclists.

Faulty construction and water on the road

Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys brought actions against the State of California on behalf of a family visiting San Diego. The husband, wife and daughter were traveling on a state highway during a rainstorm. A car in front of them drove through a large puddle of water that had collected on the roadway, and the car went out of control. It skidded off the roadway to their right and plunged down an embankment. The family pulled over to the shoulder to help. The father scrambled down the embankment to the car below while the mother and daughter stayed in the car. While the father was below seeing to the other driver, a second car drove through the same puddle and careened off the highway at the same place. That car also tumbled down the embankment, struck the father, and killed him immediately.

Our attorneys believed that it was more than coincidence that two cars went off the road at exactly the same spot. Our highway design attorneys secured the records and drawings for the design and the elevations of the roadway. The investigators measured the roadway as it was actually built and found that the road as built did not comply with the original design. As a result, water collected on the roadway during rainstorms, creating significant dangers to vehicles and their passengers. The State’s attorneys agreed that the builders’ failure to implement their own design had resulted in the death of this fine young man, and they resolved the case.

Failure to reduce a known risk

Casey Gerry highway design lawyers represented the family of a lovely and promising 16-year old girl who died in 1999 as a result of a dangerous condition on public property on southbound 163 going through Balboa Park in San Diego. She was riding in as a passenger in a vehicle which went off the road and crashed into a large tree that stood just off the edge of the road, and she died as a result of her injuries. Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys studied the roadway and the injury and fatality history along it. They established that more than 400 accidents, and numerous utterly preventable deaths had occurred on this roadway in the last 10 years, and that this route had an accident rate twice as high as in the other parts of the state. Despite this very disturbing record for over a decade, the State had taken no steps to reduce the risk.

Established highway design practice prescribes an area for clear recovery adjacent to a roadway to protect drivers who veer off the road. Casey Gerry highway design attorneys showed that this design practice had been in place for 25 years. Through extensive discovery, Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys were able to present in evidence the state’s own internal evaluation, in which it acknowledged its failure to deal with the hazards on this roadway. Although they were aware of over 400 accidents in the southbound lanes, the State of California had not acted to reduce or eliminate the serious risk posed to drivers and passengers on its property.

The State’s failure to act resulted in the tragic death of this lovely young woman, as well as the deaths and injuries of many other citizens in previous accidents. We were able to obtain a substantial recovery for the family, and we expect that through our effort in consumer protection, California will address the situation to avoid future harm to others.

Negligent installation

Casey Gerry's San Diego highway design attorneys have also represented bicyclists who have been injured as a result of dangerous conditions on roadways. In one case, a client was riding her bicycle when its front tire got stuck in a grate installed in the roadway. The slots in the grate ran parallel with the direction of the bike lane, so that when her tire fell into the grate it got caught, causing an unexpected, immediate and complete stop of the bicycle. Our client was catapulted over the handlebars, and suffered serious injuries. By placing a grate with openings that ran parallel to tires, allowing a bicycle tire to drop into it, the state created a risk of harm to cyclists that was clearly foreseeable.