Law Firm Files Case Against Caltrans on Behalf of Four Bicyclists Who Suffered Serious Injuries

Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton and Goldstein has filed a lawsuit against Caltrans on behalf of four bicyclists who were severely injured while riding on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in August 2009. 

The cyclists suffered everything from severe cases of road rash to concussions, broken bones, punctured lungs, even paralysis.

Caltrans (the state agency responsible for PCH) hired an outside contractor to re-pave a portion of PCH in Malibu near Zuma Beach. The re-paving process was in its initial stages. On the first Friday after the project began, the contractor left the jobsite unprotected, without warning of the danger it posed. Bicyclists riding northbound on PCH encountered an incline without any reasonable notice of what they faced at the bottom of the incline, namely  that the road was  “…cut away and strewn with loose gravel, rocks, sudden irregularities in elevation, narrowing of the shoulder, ground-up roadway surfaces, cracks and crevices,” according to the lawsuit. These conditions “would and did cause said roadway to be unreasonably dangerous and defective for bicyclists who regularly and typically used PCH….”

The hazardous conditions remained from Friday through Sunday despite messages left on the Caltrans hotline and e-mails sent informing them of the conditions. The governmental agency did not begin to remedy the situation until Monday, explaining that they were closed on Friday due to the state-mandated furlough.

“Caltrans did not do their job,” says Personal Injury Attorney Howard Krepack, an avid cyclist who specializes in handling bicycle cases. “Pursuant to policy and directive, they are responsible for issuing warnings about highway construction projects, and they dropped the ball…big time. Call it oversight, carelessness, stupidity or indifference…it still comes down to many innocent people being seriously injured.”

The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein has had great success representing people who have been injured in bicycle accidents.  If you would like to contact a Los Angeles attorney about your case, please contact us at 213-739-7000.

Contact us by Email
for a free Case Evaluation

Learn how we work with
the Community on bike issues.

Follow our news.