Santa Clara County Settles with Bicyclist’s Father in Accident Involving Patrol Car
Santa Clara County has settled with the father of a bicyclist, who was killed in an accident involving a sheriff’s deputy, who dosed off at the wheel of a patrol car.
On March 9th 2008, James Council was driving his cruiser in Cupertino when he struck a group of three bicyclists. Two of the bicyclists, San Francisco-resident Matt Peterson and San Leandro-resident Kristy Gough, were killed instantly. The third bicyclist Christopher Knapp, sustained serious injuries in the accident.
Gough’s father and mother, and Peterson’s parents filed wrongful death lawsuits against Santa Clara County. In October, the county settled with Gough’s mother Karen Clarkson for $1.2 million. In July, Matt Peterson’s parents settled with the county for $2.3 million. Now, Gough’s father has settled with the county for $800,000. Knapp’s personal injury lawsuit against the County is the only one that is still pending.
After the accident, James Council was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Santa County officials have acknowledged that the County and James Council were responsible for the tragedy.
At the time of the accident, Council was on a 12-hour shift and had already spent 4 and ½ hours on the job. He had worked a 12 and ½ hour shift the previous day. At the time of the accident, Peterson, Gough and Knapp were part of team of a dozen cyclists riding with a San Mateo bicycle racing group. Both Peterson and Gough were prominent cyclists. Gough was a professional triathlete who had taken up road racing just a short while before the accident. Peterson, who was an amateur road racing cyclist, had won a road racing event in Merced just one week before the accident.
The settlement with Gough’s father comes during a month of hectic bicycling-related litigation. Earlier this week, a Los Angeles physician accused of striking and severely injuring two cyclists in a fit of road rage, was convicted. Christopher Thomson will be sentenced in December. He is accused of yelling at the two bicyclists as he passed by them on a Brentwood street, and pulling out in front of them, causing the two cyclists to strike his car. Both cyclists were seriously injured. They alleged that the doctor pulled out his car in front of them on purpose. Thomson’s behavior is an extreme act of road rage. Across California, bicyclists face this kind of hospitality, albeit in milder forms, everyday.
California bicyclist accident lawyers have been severely critical of Thomson’s behavior. The trial had been eagerly followed by Los Angeles bicycle accident attorneys, bicycling groups and auto safety agencies in California. Thomson’s conviction sends out a strong message to those who don’t believe that they need to share their roads with bicyclists.
Also, this week, the man who stuck and killed a 14-year-old bicyclist in Huntington Beach was convicted. Jeffrey Woods was texting while driving, when he stuck high school student Daniel Oates in 2007, killing him instantly.
The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of bicycle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.
The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.