Pedestrian Accident Settlement Against City of Bakersfield
PARRIS obtained a $10,500,000 settlement against the City of Bakersfield on behalf of a high school pedestrian.
Our 15-year old client was walking in a crosswalk on her way home from high school softball practice. The sun had set and it was dark in the roadway. As she walked through the crosswalk, a man driving a truck hit our client. Her body hit the hood of the truck and she flew 30 to 40 feet before hitting the ground. The driver of the truck testified that it was so dark that he could not see our client in the crosswalk until the moment he hit her.
Our client sustained numerous severe injuries after the truck hit her, including multiple pelvic fractures, severed nerves near the lumbar spine, liver lacerations, a collapsed lung, and internal bleeding. Although she miraculously survived the accident and many of her injuries healed, she suffered some permanent injuries.
While the truck hit our client, the driver did not have nearly enough insurance to even pay for our client’s medical bills. Our client’s PARRIS attorneys investigated all aspects of the case and were able to prove that the poor design of the city’s crosswalk was the main reason the accident happened. Under cross-examination by her PARRIS attorney, several City of Bakersfield employees admitted that the crosswalk our client was using at the time of the accident was in violation of the city’s own crosswalk safety policies. The city had a clear policy against constructing uncontrolled mid-block crosswalks exactly like the one our client was using when she was hit. Her PARRIS attorneys were able to show that if the city had followed its own safety policy the accident would have been avoided. Because of that, our client obtained a settlement that will take care of her medical and safety needs for life.
Other notable PARRIS pedestrian injury case results include a $14.8 million pedestrian injury settlement on behalf of a girl severely injured while crossing a street in the Antelope Valley, and a $5 million pedestrian accident settlement on behalf of a minor who was hit by a car while walking her dog in Boron, CA.
