$1.75 MILLION FROM COUNTY PALMDALE COUPLE HURT IN HEAD-ON HIGHWAY CRASH TO GET SETTLEMENT.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer PALMDALE -- A Palmdale couple badly injured in a head-on crash on a busy section of Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling used as a shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. between the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. and Pearblossom Highway will get a $1.75 million settlement from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. The couple sued the county, blaming the crash on what they said is a dangerous curve in the four-lane highway west of its junction with Pearblossom Highway south of Palmdale. ``Although we believe that the traffic controls at the incident location were reasonable and appropriate, a jury could find that additional measures were needed to safeguard motorists driving through this curve,'' a County Counsel's Office memo said. Rouvenie Robianes, 45, suffered a cervical spine cervical spine Clinical anatomy The region of the vertebral column encompassing C1 through C7 fracture and broken legs and is no longer able to work as a hospital nurse. Her 47-year-old husband, Rodel, a title searcher for a title company, suffered chest injuries and required open-heart surgery open-heart surgery Any surgical procedure opening the heart and exposing one or more of its chambers, most often to repair valve disease or correct congenital heart malformations (see congenital heart disease). . The uninsured driver of the compact car that crossed the highway's center line was killed. The settlement, approved Tuesday by county supervisors, came after an appeals court in February 2005 overturned a judge's decision to throw out the Robianeses' lawsuit. ``The adverse ruling by the Court of Appeal severely burdens the county's position and will negatively impact the defense at trial. The settlement will avoid further litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. expenses and a potential jury verdict against the county substantially in excess of the settlement amount. We believe this disposition is in the best interests of the county,'' the memo said. The memo said if the case had proceeded to trial, the couple likely would have sought damages of more than $9.5 million. The county spent $370,859 in attorney fees and other costs in defending the lawsuit, the memo said. The Robianeses were injured Dec. 8, 2001, when their 1998 Toyota 4Runner “4Runner” redirects here. For the country music group 4 Runner, see 4 Runner. The Toyota 4Runner is an SUV manufactured by Toyota and sold in countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Chile from 1984 to the present. was hit by a 1990 Toyota Corolla that veered over the center line in a curve where Sierra runs between the Antelope Valley Freeway and Pearblossom. The Corolla's driver, Gary Plyley, 51, of Acton was killed. Plyley was uninsured, but the Robianeses were able to recover $135,000 in a good-faith settlement with Plyley's estate, the memo said. Other fatal collisions have occurred in that general area, which is heavily traveled by east Palmdale commuters and by travelers seeking a shortcut between Highway 138 and the Antelope Valley Freeway. In January 2004, a Canyon Country man died in a four-vehicle traffic collision that occurred when a pickup truck drifted over the center line and collided with the victim's sedan. Two motorists died in September 2002 on Pearblossom just east of Sierra only minutes apart and in separate collisions blamed on big-rig drivers swerving across the center line while trying to avoid traffic slowing in front of them. The couple's lawsuit contended that the roadway was in a dangerous condition and lacked necessary and appropriate safety features and controls, such as a median guardrail, to protect and safeguard motorists from cross-over accidents, the memo said. In October 2002, the speed limit on Sierra Highway was reduced from 55 to 50 mph from a half-mile north of Angeles Forest Highway The Angeles Forest Highway traverses the Angeles National Forest and connects the Los Angeles basin to the Antelope Valley by going up and over the San Gabriel Mountains. The highway is variously known as County Road N-3 or FH-59 or the Palmdale cutoff. It is about 25 miles long. to Pearblossom Highway, according to a county Public Works Department Many governments worldwide have had departments or ministries referred to as the Public Works Department either formally or informally. In Australia: - New South Wales -
Workers also installed a driver feedback sign in the southbound direction on Sierra that uses radar to display the speed of a vehicle when it is traveling faster than the speed limit, the report said. ``It is our expectation that the motorist will take action to comply with the posted speed limit,'' the report said. karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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