Kurt
D. Lloyd overcame major obstacles to obtain a $4.35 million
settlement in a bicycle-taxicab collision case
(Chicago Lawyer, a publication of
the Law Bulletin, October 2001)
Kurt
D. Lloyd of Lloyd & Cavanagh literally and figuratively
overcame major obstacles to obtain a $4.35 million settlement
in a bicycle-taxicab collision case.
In
December 1996, a third year law student at Loyola University
Chicago School of Law was riding his bicycle. At the intersection
of Dearborn street and Delaware Place, the bicycle and a
taxicab collided, leaving the bicyclist paralyzed from the
waist down.
The
settlement in Donald Hallsten v. City of Chicago, et al.,
97 L1092, ranked 35th among 167 state tort settlements of
$1 million or included in the Chicago Lawyer 2001 Settlement
survey (related stories, pages 8 and 26). It settled Nov.
28, 2000, before Judge Donald J. O'Brien of Cook County
Circuit Court.
To
be eligible for the survey, settlements had to have been
published in Chicago Lawyer, the Chicago daily Law Bulletin
or Jury Verdict Reporter between July 1, 2000, and June
30, 2001.
In
Hallsten, Lloyd argued that a construction canopy at the
intersection obscured the plaintiff's view and that there
were no stop signs.
"We
filed the case in January 1997," Lloyd said. "Within
months of that … there was a decision from the 2nd District
Appellate Court … that bicyclists were not intended users
of roads and streets and could not sue municipalities for
defects in the road."
That was his first hurdle. Later, in 1998, the Illinois
Supreme Court, 4-3, upheld the appellate ruling in Boub
v. Wayne Township.
To overcome the appellate obstacle, Lloyd walked north on
Dearborn Street from Randolph Street to North Avenue. He
wrote down every street sign.
"On
the bridge on the Chicago River … there was an old sign
with three-fourths of its paint, the lettering worn off,
that had the picture of a bicycle on it," he said.
The sign seemed to be directing bicyclists to use the left
lane of the one-way street. He went to city archives and
found that in the early 1970s, the city declared Dearborn
Street part of a historical bicycle route.
But, he said, the city could not find a map of that bicycle
route.
He then contacted the Illinois Bicycle Federation, which
had a copy of an old map showing that Dearborn, from south
of Randolph Street to Lincoln Park, was a bicycle route
at one time.
A month before the accident, city workers took down a similar
sign at Chicago Avenue and Randolph, he said.
"Some
city worker never got up on the bridge and took the sign
down. Otherwise, I probably never would have found out about
this," Lloyd said.
"So,
even after the Boub decision came down, I was able to show
[that] although city streets are not typically designated
as bike routes, that by [the city's] actions with regard
to Dearborn, this was a preferred bicycle route in the City
of Chicago. So, we showed intent."
Lloyd said that information let him prevail over the city's
motion for summary judgment, which argued the street was
not intended for bicyclists.
Under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act, Lloyd could not sue
the city for a bad decision to erect a temporary construction
zone or to change a roadway, he said.
But, the canopy had been up for about six months by the
time the accident occurred. That was plenty of time for
the city to realize the canopy created a danger, he argued.
To prove there was a blind spot at the intersection, Lloyd
spent about $50,000.00 for computer simulations.
With specific timing and head turns of the bicyclist, the
bicyclist could have stopped, looked, thought no one was
on the cross street and still have had an accident, Lloyd
said.
Lloyd
said he had to show his client, eastbound on Delaware, could
have stopped, looked and thought no cross traffic was coming
north on Dearborn.
"He
did, and he got clocked." Lloyd said.
The plaintiff received two traffic citations for failing
to yield the right of way. The citations were dismissed,
Lloyd said.
Lloyd said the Illinois Bicycle Federation has since consulted
him about proposed state legislation that would allow bicyclists
to sue municipalities like motorists can.
