San Diego is paying out $2 million to a lady who suffered a traumatic mind harm and damaged bones in a automobile crash she mentioned was attributable to town’s failure to interchange a lacking cease signal at state Route 94 and Residence Avenue.
Isabella Araceli Franco was severely injured in January 2023 when the Jeep she was driving was broadsided by a Ford F-100 truck at a T-shaped intersection in Mount Hope the place Federal Boulevard, Residence Avenue and SR-94 come collectively.
Franco filed a lawsuit in 2023 blaming the crash on town and its transportation crews, who have been allegedly conscious of the necessity for a alternative cease signal however failed to put in one.
Along with the $2 million from town, Franco obtained $480,000 from Progressive Insurance coverage, which had a coverage masking the male driver within the Ford truck, in response to court docket paperwork.
The payout is comparatively massive as a result of Franco’s traumatic mind harm has prevented her from returning to her job and makes it unlikely she is going to ever be capable of return to work, court docket paperwork say.
She additionally suffered fractures to her left iliac wing, left femur and left acetabulum. Her swimsuit described the accidents as “serious and life-altering” and mentioned Franco has had a number of surgical procedures since.
Based on the swimsuit, Franco got here to a full cease after exiting the eastbound offramp of SR-94 at Residence Avenue after which started to show left on to Residence Avenue.
As this was taking place, the swimsuit says the Ford truck moved rapidly from Residence onto Federal and didn’t cease on the longtime three-way cease intersection as a result of there was no cease signal going through him.
The swimsuit contains Google photos exhibiting that there had a been a cease signal there since no less than 2007, however that it had been changed some months earlier than the accident by a a lot decrease short-term cease signal connected to a small highway barricade.
The swimsuit says that even the decrease short-term cease signal was not in place on the time of the crash. That evening, the small highway barricade was tipped over on its aspect and there was no cease signal in any respect.
The swimsuit blames metropolis crews, contending their placement of the short-term signal exhibits they have been conscious the everlasting signal was not in place. The swimsuit says state legislation requires short-term indicators to get replaced rapidly, which didn’t occur.
“Certified and authenticated Google maps and photographs from Google going back in time show that the subject intersection had been missing a stop sign for several months prior to the subject collision, and the temporary stop sign had been deteriorating for several months prior to the subject collision given that weeds and vegetation had grown through it,” the swimsuit says.
The settlement, which the Metropolis Council is scheduled to approve Tuesday, permits the cancellation of a jury trial that Superior Courtroom Decide Katherine Bacal had scheduled for March 14. The council accredited the settlement in a session closed to the general public on Jan. 27.
