School officials and parents of a middle school are asking for a crossing guard and other pedestrian safety measures on a street in front of the school after two Huntington Beach car accidents where students were hit by cars. According to a news report in The Orange County Register Dwyer Middle School's principal is asking for help to improve safety conditions on what he and many others believe is a dangerous roadway condition in front of the school.

Dangerous Condition on Roadway

Thankfully, neither one of the students was seriously injured in these accidents. In one incident, 13-year-old Adam Cairo was hit as he crossed 15th Street and Palm Avenue on his way to school the morning of September 9, 2009. A car driven by a 17-year-old hit Adam throwing him on to the hood of the car. The driver did not stop and continued on Palm. Adam's mother tells the Register that he did not go to school Thursday because he had nightmares of cars hitting him. Another student was hit on September 10, 2009 when he was skateboarding several blocks from campus. That driver, too, did not stop. The incident was not reported to the police and neither the victim nor the driver was identified. It is indeed fortunate that neither teen was seriously injured in these pedestrian accidents .

Apparently, this is not the first time the principal has raised the issue of traffic safety outside the Orange County school. He says he pleaded for more crossing guards from the city five years ago. Although there is a crosswalk painted with stripes in front of the school, the city would not provide a crossing guard, the principal says. What do city officials have to say? That they have not received a formal request for a crossing guard at that location and also that statistics do not show a major pedestrian safety problem there for the last five years.

In my opinion, these incidents are a wake-up call to the city of Huntington Beach and the school district to take safety measures on what seems to be a dangerous roadway. This could well turn into a giant liability for them. It seems to me based on this report, that statistics are not telling the whole story because a majority of "near-misses" and minor collisions go unreported. It's probably going to take a child suffering major injuries or even getting killed on that roadway for something to change there. The question is: Should the city or the school district wait that long? Should they wait for a child to get injured or killed before they pay for a crossing guard at that intersection?

California Car Accident Law

California’s Government Code section 835 provides that a public entity or governmental agency is liable for damages to an injured person or his or her family because of a condition of public property when the injured person proves that:

  • There was a dangerous condition on the public property at the time of injury
  • The injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition
  • The dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury of the kind that occurred; and
  • Either (a) The negligent or wrongful action or failure to act of an employee of the public entity created the dangerous condition, or (b) the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition a sufficient time before the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition

The Orange County personal injury lawyers at BISNAR | CHASE have represented teens and young children who have suffered serious injuries or death as a result of dangerous roadways, especially near schools. In fact, our law firm won a $10 million settlement for a teenager in Hanford, California, who suffered irreversible brain injury in a bicycle accident in a school zone as a result of a dangerous roadway. I'd bet that in hindsight, the city of Hanford would've rather fixed that dangerous condition on the roadway instead of paying out millions to an injured victim. It would be in the best interest of Huntington Beach residents and the city of Huntington Beach to look further into this pedestrian safety issue and take immediate action to fix the problem.

The BISNAR|CHASE personal injury law firm is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our source for the facts is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, please contact us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. Most of the best law firms will provide accident victims a free consultation.

We cannot fully inform any party or family member about their rights, options or the economic viability of any claim for compensation without a full investigation and consultation. We will not be conducting an investigation into this matter unless we are retained by a party. We will provide a free, confidential consultation to any, not at fault, person named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.

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