San Diego resident Jeff Hassett had major heart surgery and as a result spent the last five years using his Segway to get around San Diego. But even the most adept Segway riders can run into dangerous, or in Hassett’s case deadly, city road conditions. Hassett died after sustaining serious injuries from a fall on a San Diego sidewalk and his family is now suing the city over the dangerous condition.

NBC Bay Area has more on the San Diego wrongful death segway lawsuit, “Hassett sustained broken ribs, an injured toe and damage to his internal defibrillator. As a result of his injuries, Hassett’s toe had to be amputated and due to resulting infection and cardiac complications, he died of his injuries.” The source of the San Diego sidewalk fall was a concrete stub (believed to have been a removed lampost or similar item) that suck out 3-4 inches from the ground.

The wrongful death lawsuit essentially alleges negligent upkeep on the part of the city. Bad sidewalks and poorly maintained roads are common sources of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits throughout all of Southern California. The line between the city’s maintenance responsibility and the individuals own safety responsibility are usually where these cases arguments rest but it is pretty hard to argue that a dangerous sidewalk condition such as a protruding cement stub was something the city did not have a duty to take care of. Like a wrongful death lawsuit against an insurance company or individual, this case requires show that the city’s negligence was responsible for Hassett’s death. Not only can the family recover for their loss but also for the expenses related to taking care of Hassett during the time between the accident and the ultimate death.

There is one very important exception to suing a city for a personal injury or death– you only have 6 months in California to file a lawsuit as compared to the usual two year statute of limitations. Time flies when there is an injury or death and 6 months will creep on on grieving and injuried clients so much faster than they think. It only takes a few minutes to give Walch Law a call to handle your case. We work hard to get our clients the most money possible- our 95%+ success rate speaks for itself. If you have been seriously injured by a dangerous road or sidewalk or other city-owned property, give us a call today to discuss your case further.