Personal InjuryPersonal Injury Legal Cases
Mountain View California Dangerous Roadway Causes Personal Injury
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA
RANDY RICHARDS and MARTINA RICHARDS,
Plaintiff,
vs.
The CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW and DOES 1-10, Inclusive,
Defendants.
CASE NO. 108CV131502
[UNLIMITED CIVIL]
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES FOR DANGEROUS CONDITION OF PUBLIC PROPERTY (Government Code §835)
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiffs RANDY RICHARDS and MARTINA RICHARDS allege:
ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION
1. Plaintiff Randy Richards is a competent adult and a resident of Santa Clara County.
2. Plaintiff Martina Richards is a competent adult and a resident of Santa Clara County.
3. Defendant City of Mountain View is a local public entity subject to liability under Gov. Code §835 et. seq., under which this action is brought.
4. Plaintiffs are presently ignorant of the true names, capacities, statuses and conduct of the defendants respectively sued herein as Does 1-10, inclusive, and will amend to allege same when such information is ascertained. On information and belief, each Doe defendant is legally responsible in some manner for the negligence and/or injuries and damages alleged herein.
5. On information and belief, each defendant at all pertinent times was the agent, servant and/or employee of each co-defendant acting within the course, scope, purpose and authority of such agency, service and/or employment with the full actual or constructive knowledge, permission, consent and/or ratification of each co-defendant.
6. The incident which caused the injuries and damages alleged herein occurred in Santa Clara County, City of Mountain View, on January 9, 2008.
7. On June 13, 2008, plaintiff Randy Richards presented and filed with and against defendant City of Mountain View a claim for damages arising out of the incident. Said claim was presented and filed within the time allowed by Gov. Code §911.2. The contents of said claim fully complied with the requirements for same under Gov. Code §910. On July 9, 2008, defendant City of Mountain View gave timely written and sufficient notice of rejection of said claim under Gov. Code §913. Plaintiff Randy Richards has commenced this action within the time allowed by Gov. Code §945.6(a)(1).
8. On June 13, 2008, plaintiff Martina Richards presented and filed with and against defendant City of Mountain View a claim for damages arising out of the incident. Said claim was presented and filed within the time allowed by Gov. Code §911.2. The contents of said claim fully complied with the requirements for same under Gov. Code §910. On July 9, 2008, defendant City of Mountain View gave timely written and sufficient notice of rejection of said claim under Gov. Code §913. Plaintiff Martina Richards has commenced this action within the time allowed by Gov. Code §945.6(a)(1).
9. On January 9, 2008, at about 12:15 p.m., on Diericx Drive approximately 311 feet east of Franklin Avenue in Mountain View ("the roadway"), plaintiff Randy Richards was lawfully standing and working on the roadway in a place authorized for such use, i.e. just behind a lawfully parked pickup truck that he was engaged in loading at the edge of the roadway, well out of the lane of travel for northbound vehicles. Megan Rose McConnell was then and there operating an automobile in the northbound lane and lost control of it, causing it to suddenly veer out of the driving lane toward the right, where it collided with Mr. Richards and the parked pickup truck, pinning him between her car and the truck and causing severe, permanent and disabling physical and mental injuries to Mr. Richards. The elapsed time between the onset of the loss of control and the collision was insufficient for Mr. Richards to realize and comprehend the danger and take self-protective evasive action.
10. Mr. Richards committed no negligent act or omission or other form of fault that was a proximate cause of either the loss of control by Ms. McConnell and subsequent collision or the injuries suffered by him in the incident.
11. Mr. Richards at all times was using the roadway with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.
12. Each of the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 11, inclusive is incorporated by reference into each of the causes of action stated hereafter.
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Plaintiff Randy Richards v. Defendant Mountain View and Does)
13. At and before the incident described in paragraph 9, the roadway was real property owned and controlled by defendant Mountain View and thus is property of a public entity or public property as defined in Gov. Code §830(c).
14. At and before the incident described in paragraph 9, the roadway was in a condition that created a substantial risk of injury to Mr. Richards and others who might use such roadway for similar purposes and in similar ways, and thus was in a dangerous condition as defined in Gov. Code §830(a). Such condition existed as a result of the interrelationship of, inter alia, the following:
(1) The presence of a concrete "island" in the middle of the roadway at or near the beginning point of the curve in the road near the point where the loss of control ensued, which did not serve any legitimate purpose under commonly accepted highway design principles, and which narrowed the available path of travel for a northbound car attempting to recover from the onset of a loss of control and influenced the driver in attempting such recovery to veer further right than would normally be the case;
(2) The presence of accumulated debris and/or other form of slickness-inducing condition at or near the point where the loss of control and recovery efforts ensued, including but not limited to the presence of pooled rainwater due to inadequate drainage;
(3) The configuration of the curve of the roadway, because of it being widened at its apex, presents a deceptive perception to northbound drivers because it creates an illusion in such drivers that there is more room than is actually available, i.e. it is only after the driver enters the curve does he or she discover that it narrows abruptly to a single lane, which exacerbates the danger to a vehicle lawfully parked nearby and persons lawfully standing nearby;
(4) Inadequate and ineffective measures to control the speed of vehicles using said northbound lane when defendant Mountain View had long had actual and/or constructive notice of habitual speeding and resulting similar accidents on that route involving drivers who use said route for regular ingress and egress to the nearby high school to the south.
15. The dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury incurred by Mr. Richards, in that it naturally would induce vehicles and drivers confronting and being unable to deal with it to leave the main part of the roadway and enter the side where parked cars and people may be lawfully present and unprotected, and such risk was clearly foreseeable for a substantial time before the incident herein, because of repeated demonstration that the potential of resulting injury-causing accidents frequently became realized, as evidenced by the past similar incidents known to Mountain View.
16. The dangerous condition was negligently and wrongfully created by one or more employees of Mountain View through its past decisions regarding speed control in the area, and Mountain View had actual and/or constructive knowledge of such condition a sufficient time ahead of the injury so as to protect against it by sufficiently repairing, remedying or correcting it, providing adequate safeguards against it, and/or adequately warning drivers of it, and failed to undertake such protective measures.
17. The existence of the dangerous condition and Mountain View's failure to act appropriately with regard to it was a substantial factor in causing or contributing to the loss of control of her vehicle by Ms. McConnell and/or her inability to recover from such loss of control, and thus a proximate cause of the injuries suffered by Mr. Richards as a result of being hit by Ms. McConnell's car.
18. The injuries to Mr. Richards have caused him to suffer severe and permanent bodily injury and resulting permanent disability, past and future physical and mental pain and suffering past and future other non-economic losses, past and future economic losses, and other damages to be determined, in amounts to be proved. The injuries include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Complete present and probably permanent loss of the use of his right leg and severe disfigurement thereof, with the substantial possibility that it may have to be amputated, depending on the course of medical treatment now and for the foreseeable future;
(2) Complete present and potentially permant loss of use of his left leg and severe disfigurement thereof;
(3) Severe emotional distress resulting from (a) the stress of repeated prolonged hospitalizations and engaging in required at-home treatment modalities, (b) the stress resulting from the fact that he needs to be assisted like a small child in the everyday tasks of normal life such as getting dressed, urinating and defecating, eating, and moving about, and the loss of self-esteem attendant thereto, (c) the stress of worrying about the state of his family finances since he was a major provider of support for them and now can't work, and his mother has to spend all available money and most of her time to obtain care for him and thus is extremely limited in her ability to work and provide income, (d) the deep depression resulting from the injuries to his body and the consequences thereof as alleged, which probably has reached the point of full post-traumatic stress disorder, and especially the potential for having to have one or both of his legs amputated, and (e) other factors in ways to be proved.
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
(Plaintiff Martina Richards v. Defendant Mountain View and Does)
19. Each allegation in paragraphs 13 through 18, inclusive is incorporated by reference into this cause of action in addition to those in paragraphs 1 through 11.
20. Plaintiff Martina Richards is the natural mother of plaintiff Randy Richards and is thus closely related to him.
21. Martina Richards was present at the scene of the injury-producing event described above at the time it occurred, being in a parked car approximately 40 feet away on the same side of the street, hearing the approach of Ms. McConnell's car due to loud music emanating from it and thus looking up, and then visually observing Ms. McConnell's loss of control of her car and it's subsequent collision with Mr. Richards and the pickup truck. Ms. Richards immediately ran to where her son lay covered in blood and screaming for help and thus then became aware that he had been severely injured in the collision, as a result of which she suffered extreme and serious emotional distress.
22. Ms. Richards has continued to suffer serious emotional distress since the incident and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future due to her close involvement in assisting and caring for Mr. Richards in the course of his medical treatment and recovery for his physical injuries and the emotional distress resulting therefrom.
23. The existence of the dangerous condition and Mountain View's failure to act appropriately with regard to it was a substantial factor in causing or contributing to the loss of control of her vehicle by Ms. McConnell and/or her inability to recover from such loss of control, thus a proximate cause of the injuries suffered by Mr. Richards as a result of being hit by Ms. McConnell's car and of the resulting emotional distress suffered by Ms. Richards.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray:
1. For compensatory damages in amounts to be proved;
2. For costs of suit; and
3. For other proper relief.
DATED: November 19, 2009 BISNAR|CHASE
BY: ______________________________________________
BRIAN D. CHASE, Esq.
STEVEN MEEKS, Esq.
Attorneys for Plaintiffs RANDY RICHARDS and MARTINA RICHARDS
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiffs hereby demand a trial by a 12-person jury.
DATED: November 19, 2009. BISNAR|CHASE
BY: ______________________________________________
BRIAN D. CHASE, Esq.
STEVEN MEEKS, Esq.
Attorneys for Plaintiffs RANDY RICHARDS and MARTINA RICHARDS
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