Redding, CA — A Sacramento jury has awarded a Chico-area woman just over $18 million for serious injuries she received while crossing Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. It is the largest settlement ever awarded for a case of this kind in California.
Dugan Barr of the Redding law firm Barr and Mudford said, “This case is of tragic proportions. One of the neuropsychologists who testified at the trial said that, of the more than 6,000 patients who survived brain injuries, he has seen only two that were worse.”
The woman, a young doctor who had just started her first year of residency at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, was jogging along Freeport Boulevard when she was struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk near a three-way intersection.
The cause of the tragedy could be traced to the fact that the crosswalk was in the second half of an “S Curve,” creating dangerously poor visibility for both drivers and pedestrians.
The City identified the crosswalk as dangerous and planned to install a pedestrian-activated walk signal but they failed to act. Moreover, the City took no other action such as directing pedestrians down the street to a safer crosswalk.
“While we were pleased with how well the jury understood the facts of the case and the horrible injuries our client received, nothing can make up for the fact, as the result of these terrible injuries, she may never achieve her dream of working as a doctor,” said Mr. Barr. “We were honored to have been asked by her family to represent her in this case.”
