Types of cases and the experience of
Casey Gerry's San Diego highway design attorneys

Casey Gerry is a San Diego plaintiffs law firm that has handled many highway design cases over the years. One of the most significant trial results involved a case brought against the County of San Diego in which a pedestrian was seriously injured in a roadway that brought traffic into a pedestrian walkway. When this case went to trial, the County of San Diego had had 17 consecutive verdicts in its favor on highway design cases.

Large bushes had grown at the corners of the walkway and the bushes blocked cars from seeing approaching pedestrians. In trial, Casey Gerry’s California highway design attorneys were able to show that as the south barrier foliage had grown, there was extensive use of a pedestrian area adjacent to the road. Not enough separation protected the pedestrians and children in the walkways from the vehicles. Videotape testimony showed cars very commonly veering into the pedestrian area because of the nature of the curve on the roadway. The county made no offer to settle on the case, Lee Johnson v. County of San Diego. After the case was tried, the jury ordered a verdict of over $3.4 million for the injured victim, the largest highway design award in history against the County of San Diego. The county appealed, and both the Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court upheld the decision. This decision not only resulted in proper compensation for our injured client, but also helped to increase awareness among all public entities in Southern California regarding improving safety for pedestrian areas and bicyclists.

A very significant case against the State of California handled by Casey Gerry's San Diego highway design attorneys involved a family visiting San Diego. The husband, wife and daughter were traveling on a state highway during a rainstorm. They saw a car drive through a large puddle of water that had collected on the roadway, go out of control, and skid off the roadway to their right. As Good Samaritans, they pulled over to help. The father got out of the car, and scrambled down the embankment to the car below, and the mother and daughter stayed in the car. While the father was below helping the other driver, another car drove into the same puddle and careened off the highway in the identical fashion. That car struck the father, and killed him immediately.

We believed that it was more than coincidence that two cars went off the road at exactly the same spot. Our highway design attorneys were able to obtain the records for the design and the elevations of the roadway. When we measured the roadway, as it was actually built, we found that it did not comply with the original design. As a result, water was collecting on the roadway, creating enormous dangers to vehicles during rainstorms. It became clear to the State that the flawed implementation of their own design had resulted in the death of this fine young man, and they resolved the case.

Casey Gerry highway design lawyers have resolved many cases in which cars have gone out of control, leaving roadways, resulting in death or serious injury to its clients. We represented the family of a remarkable young woman who died in 1999 as a result of a dangerous condition on public property on southbound 163 going through Balboa Park. She died when the vehicle she was riding in as a passenger rammed into a large tree just off the edge of the road. Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys established that more than 400 accidents, and a series of needless, preventable deaths had occurred on this roadway in the last 10 years, and the State had not taken steps to eliminate the risk of serious injuries.

Recognizing that cars often veer slightly off the roadway, established highway safety practice prescribes an area for clear recovery adjacent to a roadway to protect drivers. Casey Gerry showed that despite 25 years of knowledge, and a history of over 400 accidents in the southbound lanes, the State of California had failed to eliminate the serious risk posed to drivers and passengers on its property. We established that this route had an accident rate twice as high as in the other parts of the state, and that the State’s failure to act resulted in the tragic death of this 16 year old girl.

Through extensive discovery Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys were able to identify the state’s own internal evaluation in which it acknowledged its failure to deal with the hazards on this roadway. Their failure resulted in the death of our client as well as many other injuries and death. We were able to make a substantial recovery for the family, and we expect that through our consumer protection efforts, California will address the situation to avoid future harm to others. (see Lenci v. State of California)

Casey Gerry's highway design attorneys have also represented bicyclists who have been injured as a result of dangerous conditions on roadways. In one case, a client was riding her bicycle when its front tire got stuck in a grate installed in the roadway whose slots ran parallel with the direction of the bike lane. The tire fell into the grate, causing an unexpected, immediate and complete stop of the bicycle. Our client catapulted over the handlebars, and was seriously injured. By placing a grate with openings that ran parallel to tires, allowing a bicycle tire to drop into it, the state created a risk of harm to cyclists that was clearly foreseeable.