City admits fault for failure to install a light at a dangerous North Hollywood intersection
On December 9, the city of Los Angeles announced it will pay $15 million in damages for the aftermath of a tragic accident that left one girl dead and another a quadriplegic.
When the two girls, 12-year-old Emely Aleman and 10-year-old Angela Rodriguez, left their home nearly two years ago to buy food for a pet fish, no one imagined the trip would change their lives forever. The girls were only about a block from their home when a Jeep Wrangler struck them in a marked crosswalk at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood.
According to witnesses, the girls were launched nearly 10 feet by the impact. They were both rushed to the hospital, where Emely passed away and Angela woke up as a quadriplegic.
City Should Have Remedied Dangerous Intersection Sooner
The extremely busy intersection where the pedestrian accident took place had a history of accidents. Though it had a marked crosswalk, there was no light or stop sign calling attention to the crosswalk. The girls’ accident was the third serious pedestrian accident reported at the location that year. The previous year, there were four reported car accidents including one involving a bicyclist.
Plans had been submitted for a traffic light at the intersection in 2009, but work was not begun until this tragic accident catapulted the dangerous intersection into the media spotlight, resulting in the light finally being installed in the summer of 2011.
While officials applauded themselves for getting the light installed before the start of the 2011-2012 school year, of course the arrival of the light was cold comfort for the family of Emely and Angela (who were biological cousins and adopted sisters).
In a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, the family argued that the city was negligent in not enacting safety improvements at an intersection that was known to be dangerous, and this made the city liable for their girls’ accident.
Now that the city has agreed to pay $15 million in damages to the family, the lawsuit will not have to proceed to litigation. Representatives for the family report that the money will be used to enable Angela to be cared for in her home rather than in an institution.
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