NYC Ordered to Pay $19 Million Municipal Liability Claim After Brooklyn Bicycle Accident

The New York Post reports the city has been ordered to pay a $19 million municipal liability claim in the wake of a Brooklyn bicycle accident that left a 12-year-old brain damaged.

Recently, our Manhattan personal injury lawyers noted that the city has an obligation to safety in the wake of its endorsement of the NYC bike sharing program -- which will add 10,000 bikes to city streets next summer. A lawsuit claiming municipal liability may be filed when action or inaction on the part of the city contributes to the serious injury or death of a resident or visitor.

Each year, more than a dozen riders are killed and about 3,000 are seriously injured in New York City bicycle accidents, according to the Department of Transportation.

In this case, the jury found the city 40 percent responsible for the $36 million award after the boy suffered brain damage when he was struck by a speeding car while riding his bike. Jurors decided the city ignored warnings that Gerritsen Avenue needed to be revamped to slow traffic. The boy was struck in 2004 by a driver going 55 mph in the 30 mph zone. Jurors decided the driver, who was on the road despite having his driver's license suspended, was 50 percent responsible.

The teen was found to be 10 percent responsible for his own injuries. The city could be forced to pay $19.5 million -- including the driver's share of medical expenses -- because the driver had only $50,000 in insurance. It would be the largest legal payout in city history.

The city is appealing, claiming its failure to perform a traffic-calming study or to install traffic-calming devices was not a substantial factor in the accident.

The seventh-grader had just left a Christmas tree lighting and was biking on Gerritsen Avenue when he was struck by a red Honda. He spent two years in the hospital and had to relearn how to walk and talk. His cognitive abilities remain slow and a therapy dog assists him with balance.

Two years before the accident a city councilman joined others in sending letters to the Department of Transportation, urging a traffic light for the area -- calling it a "potentially fatal situation."

While the DOT has refused to comment, it has since launched a study and reduced traffic flow from two lanes in each direction down to one lane going each way.