Highway design cases handled by Casey Gerry
Casey Gerry 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 lawyers fought to secure just compensation for our clients:
Danger to runners and other pedestrians
Casey Gerry highway design lawyers went to trial against the San Diego County on behalf of a runner who was seriously injured in a roadway that allowed vehicles into a walkway clearly designated for pedestrians. At the time of the trial the county had prevailed in 17 consecutive trials of highway design cases. Its attorneys made no offer to settle on the case.
At the walkway, high shrubbery had grown in from the sides, so that drivers could not see oncoming pedestrians. Casey Gerry’s highway design attorneys demonstrated that the county had failed to create sufficient separation to protect pedestrians, especially children, from vehicles. They further established that this was a high-use area, with many children and adults exposed to this risk on a daily basis. Videotape evidence showed that a curve in the road frequently caused vehicles to swerve into the pedestrian walkway.
The jury verdict in favor of the injured victim was $3.4 million, the largest highway design award ever awarded against the County of San Diego. The county appealed the verdict, first to the Court of Appeals and then to the California Supreme Court. The higher courts upheld the original decision.
In addition to securing the needed and appropriate compensation for our seriously injured client, the case had a wide ripple effect throughout Southern California. Local governments were put on notice about their obligations for pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Faulty construction and water on the road
Casey Gerry's highway design lawyers brought an action against the State of California on behalf of a family visiting San Diego. A couple and their daughter were traveling on a state highway during heavy rain. A car in front of them drove through a large puddle on the road, then skidded out of control. It slid off the roadway and tumbled down a steep hillside. Our clients pulled off onto the shoulder to help.
The father climbed down the hillside while his wife and daughter waited in the car. While he was helping the injured driver, a second car drove through the same puddle and skidded off the highway at the same place. That car also tumbled down the hill, where it fell on the father, killing him.
The Casey Gerry's team of highway design lawyers suspected that two cars going off the road at the same spot was not a random event. Our in house investigators secured Cal Trans’ engineering drawings for the design of the roadway, and then measured the actual roadway. They found that the road as built was not in conformance with the engineers’ design.The changes in the actual roadway allowed water collect during heavy rain, creating the puddle that led to numerous fatal skids.
The State’s attorneys agreed that the builders’ failure to implement their own engineers’ design led directly to the death of a well-intentioned young man. The case was resolved with a substantial monetary award for the widow and daughter.
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 on State Highway 163, where it passes Balboa Park in San Diego. On that section of road numerous large, old trees grow very close to the road. She was a passenger in a southbound vehicle that swerved from the roadway and crashed into a large tree. The tree stood just beyond the shoulder, dangerously close to the road. She was gravely injured in the collision, and later died.
Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys studied the injury and fatality history along that section of 163. They found in the preceding10 years that more than 400 accidents, and a number of preventable deaths had occurred on this roadway. Despite this very disturbing record over a decade, the State had not taken any action to reduce the risk.
Standard highway design practice for the last 25 years requires an unobstructed area for recovery next to a road for the safety of drivers who swerve off the road. Through extensive examination of Cal Trans records, Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys found the state’s own internal communications, in which its engineers referred to the state’s failure to resolve the design flaws and dangerous hazards on this roadway. The communications showed that the State of California was clearly aware of the more than 400 accidents in the southbound lanes. Yet they reduced or eliminated the serious risk posed to drivers and passengers on this road.
The State’s failure to discharge its obligation resulted in this lovely young woman’s death of, as well as those of many other citizens in previous accidents. Casey Gerry's highway design lawyers secured a substantial recovery for her family. Exposure of this unconscionable situation increased awareness of the need for consumer protection. The state of California agreed to remedy the situation to avoid future harm to others.
Negligent installation
Bicyclists have also been injured as a consequence of dangerous roadway conditions, and Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys have helped them secure compensation. A client was riding her bicycle on a state highway when its front tire got stuck in a drainage grate installed in the roadway. The grate had been installed so that its slots ran parallel with the bike lane. When her tire got caught in the grate she could not free it, and her bicycle came to an unexpected and complete stop. She pitched forward over her handlebars, and suffered serious injuries. Our Casey Gerry highway design attorney established that by negligently placing a grate whose openings paralled the direction of bicycle traffic, the state created a high likelihood that a bicycle tire would drop into it. This failure in design created a risk of harm to cyclists that was clearly foreseeable.
110 Laurel St. • San Diego, CA
