SEATTLE — Emily Robinson, a former Seattle resident and avid cyclist, is suing the city of Seattle and the Ballard Terminal Railroad Company, claiming negligence led to a bike crash that left her with lasting physical and emotional scars.

Robinson said the city was aware of the dangers posed by the railroad tracks under the Ballard Bridge, a spot known for bicycle crashes, yet failed to take adequate measures to protect cyclists.

It is a highly dangerous area, and there have been a lot of bike crashes since, and the city of Seattle is responsible for that,” Robinson said. “I had no idea that there was a history of bike crashes at that site. I was new to Seattle, and if I had known that, I would have never biked that way.

In May 2020, Robinson was cycling along Shilshole Avenue when her tire got stuck in the train tracks under the Ballard Bridge, causing her to flip over the handlebars and land face-first. The crash left her with a bloody knee, a chipped tooth, and a scar on her lip. Robinson said the incident was so traumatizing that she had to leave Seattle and has not been able to ride a bike since.

The effects from my bike crash are something I have to stare at and face in the mirror every single day,” she said. “There’s a scar on my lip. My face is so sensitive that I can no longer bike, which is something that used to bring me so much joy.

Robinson’s attorney, Catherine Fleming, argued that the tracks were set at a shallow angle, forcing cyclists to cross at a dangerous angle, which contributed to the crashes. She added that poor signage and poor visibility contributed to Robinson’s crash. “That’s why we have this long history of crashes there. Emily was certainly not the first, and she wasn’t the last, unfortunately, who crashed there,” Fleming said.

You can read the full article by Komo News Here!

The post Cyclist sues Seattle over dangerous Ballard Bridge tracks after crash leaves lasting scars first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

In 2019 there were 2 separate incidents that took place South Jackson Street. Janet Ball and Eric Boris were both riding West on South Jackson Street and both times their wheels became stuck in the grooved rails of the Streetcar tracks.

On July 22, 2019, Eric Boris was on his commute home to West Seattle on South Jackson Street. He passed some buses when one pulled into traffic causing him to pass on the left side. Because busses pick up passengers in a curbside pocket then re-enter the right general lane, it pushed him to merge into traffic into the left lane over the streetcar tracks. Now worried about the cars behind him, Mr. Boris tried to return to the right lane when his tire got caught on the tracks and he fell into the right lane of traffic in front of the bus, resulting in a fractured clavicle. Mr. Boris has since had to quit his job as a Window Washer as arm movements above his shoulder remain painful.

On September 25, 2019, Janet Ball was bicycling with four other women, and changed lanes to avoid a bus line up on Jackson. Ms. Ball approached the complicated intersection of Fifth and Jackson focusing on which lane was most appropriate for her to choose on the far side of Fifth street and her front tire unexpectedly fell into the rails of the streetcar tracks. Ms. Ball landed on the street, unable to walk and suffered head and pelvis injuries, which requires care from her husband. Janet Ball, now 72, was an avid rider completing group rides to Portland and Vancouver B.C. but now suffers from the long-term condition of partial paralysis. Ms. Ball and her Husband Bobby have since moved to a single story home in Florida, where they can be closer to relatives to help assist with her care.

Unfortunately the city did not admit liability and did not pledge specific street changes as part of the settlement even though danger to bicyclists in the Seattle area remains.

You can read the full article by The Seattle Times Here!

The post $5.75 Million – Two Bicyclists Crashed Along Streetcar Rails first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Below is a snippet of the City of Seattle’s Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that its design of the protected bike lane, transit island, and pedestrian crosswalk (only a few yards north of the main crosswalk) had nothing to do with my client’s collision. In fact, the City blames my client, the pedestrian, for not walking precisely on the painted lines of the marked crosswalk. The City argues, this imprecise footing of the pedestrian, is “jaywalking” and is the reason why the bicyclist crashed into her.

In Seattle, pedestrians are generally expected to follow traffic signals and use designated crosswalks when available like intersections with lights or stop signs. Crossing the street at a location OTHER than a marked or unmarked crosswalk is generally considered jaywalking. However, Seattle has implemented a policy called “Pedestrian First” that prioritizes safety. This policy requires vehicles to give the pedestrian right of way at all intersection, marked or unmarked, regardless of whether there is a traffic control device.

In our fair city¹, “Pedestrian First” refers to an initiative in that the Seattle Department of Transportation has undertaken to prioritize pedestrian safety and improve conditions for pedestrians when crossing intersections. SDOT’s stated goal of the Pedestrian First approach is to create a safer and more accessible environment for people of all ages and abilities to walk and move around the city. According to SDOT’s own blog posts and publications, this initiative involves implementing various safety upgrades and changes to traffic signal patterns to enhance pedestrian visibility, increase crossing times, and reduce the likelihood of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts.

In an SDOT blog post from July 2020, SDOT announced the completion of their Vision Zero goal to create 250 pedestrian-first intersections six months ahead of schedule. SDOT explains²,

These intersections are designed with a focus on pedestrian safety and have undergone safety upgrades to improve visibility and reduce the risk of accidents*. As a result of these safety upgrades, data showed a 48% reduction in the number of people hit by cars while crossing the street in these pedestrian-first locations. This achievement signifies a significant improvement in pedestrian safety and highlights the effectiveness of the pedestrian-first approach in Seattle.

“We’ve Completed Pedestrian First Crosswalk Safety Goal Six Months Early and Are Advancing a New Policy to Create More Automatic Walk Signals and Give People More Time to Cross the Street.” SDOT Blog, 23 July 2020. (*SDOT’s use of “accidents” goes against National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s admonition against this term because these are not acts of god but rather the result of human error.)

To further enhance pedestrian safety, SDOT introduced a new traffic signal policy. The policy includes small but meaningful changes to traffic signal patterns that aim to strike a balance between efficient traffic flow and pedestrian safety³. The policy sets target and maximum cycle length times for traffic signals based on street type designation. This approach ensures that pedestrians have sufficient time to cross the street safely without causing noticeable delays for motorists⁴.

Significantly, the Pedestrian First initiative in Seattle focused on creating pedestrian-first (surprise, surprise…) intersections and improving safety measures to reduce collisions involving pedestrians. Per SDOT: The term “pedestrian first” specifically refers to this effort and does not encompass all aspects of pedestrian infrastructure or policies in the city.

SDOT has explained that Pedestrian First is intended to prioritize pedestrian safety, create safer intersections, and enhance the overall walking experience in the city.

In a case that we are current litigating, we represent a pedestrian, Angelina Kolomiets, who observed the law and looked both ways (out of habit, she always looks both ways before entering a road) before crossing the bike lane. However, the bus shelter obscured her view as well as the bicyclist’s view. Nonetheless, because the pedestrian walked a few inches south of the painted crosswalk lines, Seattle City Attorney calls this “Jaywalking.” This is the City’s way of attempting to deny that its design of the transit island, crosswalk, and bike lane led to the bicyclist/pedestrian crash. As a result, Ms. Kolomiets sustained serious injuries to her head, brain, face, jaw, teeth, and body.

Guess what? The City engineer admitted at a deposition that the project team never calculated sight distances, though the engineer knew that the tapered (unstraight) bike lane created visibility issues for both bicyclists and pedestrians.

Here is when I asked the SDOT engineer about the late change to the then-new protected bike lane on Roosevelt Way NE in the University District.

The SDOT engineer wants reassurance that I’m not blaming her. Truly, I’m attempting to understand what the main engineer (SDOT project engineer) thought about the potential issues with making the bike lane zig a little to avoid a utility pole:

When I ask the SDOT engineer whether she and the other SDOT engineers made sight distance calculations in this scenario, guess what her response was…

Seattle claimed that Pedestrian First was its plan to prioritize pedestrian safety. Really? Perhaps it’s more focused on prioritizing the Seattle Attorney’s office first? What do you think?

References:

1. The initiative called “Pedestrians First” was first conceived at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). ITDP is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting sustainable and equitable transportation systems globally. ITDP has developed a set of interactive tools that measures walkability in cities around the world, and “Pedestrians First” is one of their initiatives aimed at improving walkability and pedestrian-friendly urban planning.
2. “We’ve Completed Pedestrian First Crosswalk Safety Goal Six Months Early and Are Advancing a New Policy to Create More Automatic Walk Signals and Give People More Time to Cross the Street.” SDOT Blog, 23 July 2020.
3. Id.
4. “Traffic Signal Policy.” SDOT Blog, 29 January 2021.
5. “SDOT creates 250 ‘pedestrian-first’ intersections early.” MyNorthwest, 27 July 2020.

The post When is a pedestrian jaywalking? first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Even the most seasoned bicyclists have sustained major injuries from crashes on badly designed roads in Seattle. KOMO News anchor Molly Shen delves into the issue that gave rise to Fleming Law clients’ lawsuit against the City of Seattle. Check back often for updates about this case and other cases of unsafe road planning/design/construction/maintenance.

The post KOMO News: hazardous Seattle roads leads to serious bicyclist injuries first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

How many more injuries and catastrophic crashes for people on bikes are needed before SDOT finally does something to make S. Jackson safer? At the earliest stages of the First Hill Streetcar project, consultants for the City provided options to make the road safer for people on bikes. Protected bike lanes, physical separation between transit and bikes, and various other options were laid out. SDOT choose not to move forward with any of those recommendations. The result: Countless bike crashes and injuries to people, who took the City of Seattle’s invitation to reduce their carbon footprint and motor vehicle traffic traffic by biking.

Below is the site of crashes when people on bikes are forced to move around stopped traffic in the curb side lane taking the hazardous path in the next lane with the streetcar tracks.

People on bikes, familiar with this path, need to anticipate a sudden third lane after crossing 5th Ave S.

On behalf of injured bicyclists, Fleming Law and co-counsel, CJY Law Firm, and Ramsey Injury Law Firm have filed consolidated claims. Plaintiffs Janet Ball and Eric Boris. While both sustained serious injuries, Janet Ball now has limited use of her legs and continues to struggle with a complex neurological condition arising from her bike crash on S. Jackson.

Fleming Law client Eric Boris sustained injuries, including a broken clavicle, in a similar manner in the same location where Janet Ball crashed on S. Jackson. Because no protection is provided to people on bikes on the major arterial in Chinatown International District (CID), bicyclists are forced to navigate between the shared bike/bus lane and the other lane that contains First Hill streetcar tracks.

The westbound approach on S. Jackson St. towards King St. Station typically includes a line of buses that stretch for at least one city block east of 5th Ave South from 4th Ave. S. past 6th Ave S. SDOT is aware that these streetcar tracks are hazardous to people on bikes and recently developed an informational piece to “educate” folks on how to contend with these dangerous conditions. Below is a version with my redlines of SDOT’s piece. Pray tell, how does one safely ride “through” train tracks?

Below is a copy of the complaint filed on behalf of injured bicyclists Jan Ball, her husband, and Eric Boris.

Check back for updates,

The post SDOT needs to make S. Jackson safer for bicyclists first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

The post Lime hit & run – confidential settlement first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

The post Serious car crash injures both driver and passenger first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Seattle software developer was walking to his job, when a driver hit him with their car near the Fremont Bridge. He lost weeks of work and time to enjoy with his family for the entire summer and fall of 2019.

After the injured pedestrian was taken to the hospital, his family contacted Catherine Fleming to represent him. Although prepared to go to trial, the driver’s insurance settled for $490,000. The settlement covered his $34K in medical bills and also compensated him for his pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment with his family. He is fully recovered physically, but will always relive the trauma whenever he walks near the site where he was injured.

The post Confidential pedestrian v. driver – $490,000 first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Learn More

The post City’s dangerous design caused serious injuries on Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle’s University District, lawsuit alleges first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Daniel Ahrendt, a conscientious bike commuter and web developer, was run over by a bus after his front bike tire got caught in the Seattle First Hill Streetcar track. On a partly sunny May morning in Seattle, Daniel rode his bicycle to his job. He was always careful as a bicyclist, as his friends all knew. But, because of the design of a busy intersection, which included curved streetcar tracks, a lane restricted to buses and bicyclists at a major intersection along with having car and truck traffic, Daniel found his bicycle tire trapped in the First Hill Streetcar tracks and fell violently to the pavement. Moments later, a Metro bus ran over the lower portion of his body, crushing his pelvis, legs, etc. Attorney Catherine Fleming fought on behalf of Daniel, and obtained a $1,550,000 award to compensate him for his medical bills along with his pain and suffering.

Daniel can walk, which was a big question in the earliest days after the bike crash. However, he lives with a limp and is far from ready to ride a bike. With his settlement, he can now focus on working on his music and job as a web developer.

You can read the full article by The Seattle Times Here!

The post $1,550,000 -Seriously Injured Cyclist Sues Seattle for Unsafe Road first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.