$12.2 Million Awarded For Defective Cross Walk Design

Caltrans and a driver who ran her car into a girl walking across a street were ordered by a jury to pay a now-comatose women $12.2 million in damages. The San Mateo County jury found the defendants responsible for the collision in a crosswalk that left then-17-year-old Emily Liou with permanent brain injuries.

It was said that the crosswalk Emily used was dangerous. It was proved that the crosswalk was placed on top of a small rise where drivers couldn’t see pedestrians. Three walkers have been struck and killed by cars in the same spot since 1991. aggravating the situation is a lack of traffic lights or stop signs to slow drivers. Caltrans created the problem and took no action to improve safety at the intersection. Liou was walking across the road in the early evening on her way home from singing karaoke with friends. She had made it across six of the seven lanes when she was struck by a Toyota SUV.

The driver was only going from 20-25 miles per hour when she hit Emily, but she was knocked to the ground and hit her head. The driver said that she didn’t see Liou until just before hitting her. Emily is now 21 and is in China seeking treatment because medical costs are lower there.