Family Recovers $10 Million in Wrongful Death Bike Accident Lawsuit

 A grieving family recently recovered a $10 million settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Regents of the University of California. The lawsuit was brought by the family of a UC Davis student who died in a traffic collision on campus. The plaintiff’s parents filed the action in Yolo Superior Court following the death of their daughter on May 25, 2022. The 19-year-old suffered fatal injuries when her electric bicycle collided with a garbage truck on Hutchinson Drive near Dairy Rd.

The regions voted to approve the settlements in a September 19 closed-session meeting. Attorneys for the plaintiffs requested the civil case’s dismissal on October 25, online records show.

A UC Davis spokesman said the university also took further steps to improve Traffic Safety on campus. These include:

• adding additional training for university garbage truck drivers on safe operations around lightweight mobility devices like scooters and bikes
• discussing the safe operation of e-bikes and e-scooters with students during orientation
• adding traffic ambassadors to improve safety at busy times at the central campus silo bus terminal
• adding 360-degree cameras, backup alarms, more mirrors, reflective material, signage, and lights to 50 large campus vehicles
• reducing the overall number of hazardous turns in the presence of heavy vehicles during busy hours on campus
• making sightline improvements in key locations by clearing vegetation and foliage
• restriping bike lanes on campus roadways

What happened? 

The parents’ wrongful death lawsuit, which named both the garbage truck’s driver and the university, sought damages for medical, funeral, and burial expenses, legal fees, and compensation for the loss of their child and the emotional grief they suffered in addition to the suffering the decedent endured prior to her death.

According to the lawsuit, the decedent was riding her electric bicycle eastbound on Hutchinson Drive when she collided with the garbage truck, which was making a right-hand turn from eastbound Hutchinson onto southbound Dairy Rd. After being struck by the garbage truck, the decedent died shortly after being transported to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

According to the Davis Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team, a confluence of events factored into the collision. The large size of the garbage truck in relation to the corner radii made it impractical for the driver to make a right-hand turn from the bicycle lane, which would have clearly signaled to other traffic he was making a right-hand turn, the report says. The decedent was riding an electric bicycle which appeared to be traveling at a speed greater than a normal bicycle. This placed the decedent directly in the path of the turning truck. The accident report further stated that the large size of the truck made it difficult for the driver to see everything that was occurring on the right side of the vehicle prior to the impact. It does not appear as if the decedent saw that the truck was going to make a right-hand turn based on the activated turn indicator. All of these factors make it difficult to determine the exact vehicle code violation that was the primary collision factor.

Talk to an Oakland, CA truck accident attorney today 

Venardi Zurada represents the interests of plaintiffs in traffic accident lawsuits. We serve the Bay Area from our office locations in Oakland and Walnut Creek. Call our Oakland personal injury lawyers today to schedule an appointment and we can begin investigating your case immediately.

Source:

davisenterprise.com/news/regents-settle-ucd-wrongful-death-lawsuit-for-10m/article_12403030-be5c-11ef-8b60-330ed60f5a89.html