21 year-old Michael Lockridge was crossing the street in Playa Vista with his girlfriend when he was fatally struck by two different cars back in April 2016. Los Angeles City Council has now agreed to pay his family $5 Million to settle the Los Angeles pedestrian wrongful death lawsuit. This is not the first pedestrian death at this very same Playa Vista intersection- last year the city agreed to pay $9.5 Million to the family of a 16 year-old girl that was struck while trying to cross the street.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the details of the multi-million dollar pedestrian death settlement, “City officials created a pedestrian trap along Vista del Mar by failing to install crosswalks or street lighting…Lockridge was killed a mile from the nearest crosswalk.”

When it comes to a pedestrian and a car colliding, it is simply not a fair fight. Additionally, many Los Angeles pedestrian wrongful death cases involve instances in which the driver is not paying attention and so the pedestrian does not benefit from some braking or a slower speed but rather being struck at full impact. Even a slow moving car or truck can be deadly to a pedestrian. Pedestrian wrongful death lawsuits can often involve multiple defendants like this one where the grieving family is able to file lawsuits against not only the driver (or drivers) of the car or truck that hit them but also against the city if available.

Many pedestrian accidents in Los Angeles are not stand alone tragedies but reveal a larger pattern of the city’s failure to recognize and fix dangerous intersections- when this happens working a Los Angeles pedestrian death lawyer is essential to make sure this pattern comes to light and the city pays for the negligence. A couple things to keep in mind when it comes to Los Angeles pedestrian wrongful death cases:

• Statute of limitations: You need to file a case ASAP. While the general statute of limitations for California personal injury cases is two years, if you are naming a city or government you have as little as six months to get your case filed.
• Multiple defendants: multiple responsible parties for many pedestrian accidents means that the worth of your Los Angeles pedestrian accident can be quite high
• Medical liens: If you are putting off going to the doctor or all the doctors you need to see, we can help you pay for your medical bills via a medical lien which gets you the treatment you need now and the payments you can make later.

If you are looking for a Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyer, look no further than Walch Law. We have over four decades successfully handling these specific types of car and personal injury accidents and will work hard to get you the same great results we have gotten for our many happy clients. We are available 24/7 to talk so do not hesitate and make the important first step towards your financial recovery and legal resolution today. We look forward to hearing from you.