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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 CLAIM #06-38 04-03-07 AGENDA REPORT Agenda Item 7 Reviewed: City Manager Finance Director MEETING DATE: AUGUST 3, 2007 FROM: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER RONALD A. NAULT, FINANCE DIRECTOR CONSIDERATION OF CLAIM OF LORNA LAUGEN, CLAIM NO. 06-38 TO: SUBJECT: SUMMARY: The Claimant reported she was riding in a designated bike lane when she tried to get out of an area of unfinished pavement and her bicycle tire hit the curb lip, causing her to fall on the rough asphalt. She stated there was no warning of the dangerous condition which she described as poor road surfacing and incomplete re-surfacing. She is requesting the City compensate her approximately $3300.00 for various medical costs and damage to her bicycling equipment. RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council deny Claim Number 06-38, Lorna Laugen, and direct Staff to send notice thereof to the Claimant. FISCAL IMPACT: None. DISCUSSION: It has been concluded that the City of Tustin contracted with Moffett Meadows Partners for the construction and improvements at the location where the Claimant's bicycle accident occurred. The City's Claims Administrator did not find there were prior complaints regarding the condition of the roadway in that area, and also found no fault attributable to the City. Staff is recommending denial of this Claim, which has been tendered to Moffett Meadows Partners for handling. ATTACHMENT: Copy of Claim No. 06-38 ConsiderationOfClaimOfLornaLaugen. doc CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF TUSTIN ;)~ ~:'(-~"~1 r"'~/! I (For Damages to Person or Personal p~. Q~rwb r 'T ,<,.,~,- t:A~.;I.ja--~ C!IIT li"" I.JJld-~ v Received Via: Time Stamp: o U.S. Mail . ZOOb flEe 28 p 4: 3q R ~:;?':~o~~;~r - Claim No: 0 b .- ::/If PLEASE NOTE: A. Read entire claim before filing. B. Be sure your claim is against the City of Tustin. not another public entity. C. Claims for death. injury to person or to personal property must be filed no later than 6 months after the occurrence (Government Code S 911.2). D. Claims for damages to real property must be filed no later than one year after the occurrence (Government Code 5 911.2). E. If additional space is needed to provide your information, please attach sheets, identifying the paragraph(s) being answered. F. A daim must be presented, as presaibed by the Government Code of the State of California, by the claimant or a person acting on hislher behalf and shall provide the information shown below and must be signed by the claimant or a person on his behalf (Government Code5910.2). G. This form is for the convenienCe of those desiring to present claims against the city. Claimant is advised to consult a private attorney. if legal. advice is desired. NO employee of the City may give legal adviCe to. any claimant relating to private claims. H. Completed claims must be mailed or delivered to the City of Tustin, City Clerk'. Offtce, 300 Centennial Way, Tustin, California 92780. 1. Name and Post Office address of the Claimant: Name of Clal.mant" ((),- ~.lrr f /j JU~ l~? ;,-) . /, =# If f C,-'l.~. I \,. tt.t.,{.Lo j ,....1 j . ). ~.""" /~,~"..//~. .~._~, -, ~./ . /} ", / Home Telephone: .. ,::;;,,::) VVork Telephone: ( (.. / 2. Post Office address to which the person presenting the claim desires notices to be sent: (If different from above) Name of Addressee: Post Office Address: Telephone: 3. The date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence or transaction from which the claim arises. Date of Occurrence: t;l" f,,>,,'j(~} ~ ,{} t':,'> Location: /la it} , ? ( . t) Aj (;" 1/"[ Circumstances giving rise to this claim: Time of Occurrence: (- C,}) I~C; It' f /~ 4. General description. of the jndebtedness, obligation, injury, damage or loss incurred sq far as you now know. i~ f;t,,(itL:~ ~t~.,' :t~ /ei I, i(lI ! /~}c'.t (. ;') (}4. f -,~.J /" {/~)<i/~ ~:.,.~'~ I -" //.)* ~{.' / " ) j /-. (.i~' I i ~."~ / /,,-'./\; f v. ;;/ /) I r~ .>(~ / ,:~~/.. ~, ~/. {l " ~...,( 'Page'1"-Of'4') 5. or employees causing the injury, damage, or loss, if (' .If. ,) i t,',)' /f.. 6. If amount claimed totals less than $10,000: iProvide the amount claimed if it totals less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) as of the date of your claim, including the estimated amount of any related potential future injury, damage, or loss, insofar as it may be known as of the date of your claim. together with the basis of computation of the amount claimed (include copies of all bills, invoices, estimates. etc.) Amount Claimed and basis for computation: If amount claimed exceeds. $10,000: If the amount claimed exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), do not provide oa dollar amount in the claim. However, your claim must indicate whether it would be a limited civil case. A limited civil case is one where the recovery sought, exclusive of attorney fees. interest and court costs, does not exceed $25,000. An unlimited civil case is one in which the recovery sought is more than $25.000. (See CCP S 86.) o Limited Civil Case o Unlimited Civil Case You are required to provide the information requested above in order to comply with Government Code 1910. Additionally, in order to conduct a timely investigation and possible resolution of your claim, the C. of Tustin ~ U8sts that ou answer the followln uestions. 7. Name, address and telephone number of any witnesses to the occurrence or transaction from which the claim arises: 8. I(the clairk involves medical treabnent for a claimed injury, please provide the name, address and telephone number of any or hospitals If applicable, please attach any medical bills or reports or similar documents supporting your claim. 9. If the claim relates to an automobile accident: Claimant(s) Auto Ins. Co.: Address: Telephone: Insurance Policy No.: Insurance Broker/Agent: Address: Telephone: Claimant's Veh. Lic. No.: Claimanfs Drivers Lie. No.: Vehicle MakelYear: Expiration: If applicable, please attach any repair bills, estimates or similar documents supporting your claim. Page 2 of 4 READ CAREFULLY For all accident claims, place on following diagram name of streets, including North, East, South, and West; indicate place of accident by "X" and by showing house numbers or distances to street corners. If City/Agency Vehicle was involved, designate by letter "A" location of City/Agency Vehicle when you first saw it, and by "B" location of yourself or your vehicle when you first saw City/Agency Vehicle; location of City/Agency vehicle at time of accident by "A-1" and location of yourself or your vehicle at the time of the accident by "B_1" and the point of impact by "X." NOTE: If diagrams below do not fit the situation, attach hereto a proper diagram signed by claimant. CURB ~ CURB -. PARKWA Y SIDEWALK .-\ . 1 , " If(lr[/({ld' ({'ita tit::'t:t -- } l~f. ?trtj)S' J I t l:?<1./ll'::/7ze//Jl'~' /?_ j({./,f ft,)? ;/-?() c./ Warning: Presentation of a false claim is a felony (Penal Code ~72). Pursuant to CCP ~1038, the City/Agency may seek to recover all costs of defense in the event an action is filed which is later determined not to have been brought in good faith and with reasonable cause. ~. -~ Date: Page 3 of 4 Proof of claim Date of accident July 29,2006 on Harvard Ave @ Moffit in Tustin, CA Medical Purchases Date Location Items Cost 07/30/2006 Albertson's Spray and tegaderm bandages $10.31 07/31/2006 RiteAid Hand guard and bandages $17.22 07/31/2006 Alpha Medical Supply Tegaderm bandages $15.03 08/01/2006 CVS Pharmacy Tegaderm bandages $8.15 08/05/2006 Alpha Medical Supply Teg~derm and cotton sleeve $18.26 08/10/2006 Dr. Denenny, MD Exam, X-Ray and cast co-pay $15.00 08/31/2006 Dr. Denenny, MD Exam, X-Ray, remove cast $15.00 12/14/2006 Chiropractic Sports Exam, remove calcification, $55.00 Therapy muscle exercises Damaged Equipment Item Damage Replacement Cost Pnuemo Helmet Cracks in foam shell $96.94 Paramount Racing Jersey Tom shoulder $45.00 Campagnolo Record 10 . Gouged from pavement and $284.99 + $9 shipping speed Carbon levers holes in rubber hoods Campagnolo Record 10 Gouged from pavement $239.90 speed Carbon rear deraillellr Miscellaneous: dry cleaning for silk blouse, suit jacket and slacks from healing injuries. $9.10. Total items claimed: $838.90 General damages $2500.00 Total claim $3338.90 First of all, I want to say how disturbed we are that the road condition has not been repaired as late as last Saturday, December 23 rd even though my husband spoke to you about this incident (and the City of Irvine) within days of this accident. You even provided my husband with the name of the road contractor that had done the work on the road modifications and re-pavement for the new housing developments at the old Tustin Air Base. This demonstrates negligence on the City of Tustin's part by failing to address a dangerous condition brought to your attention that is in a legal bike lane on a main public thoroughfare for cyclist to be safe and avoid more busy and congested streets such as Red Hill to the west and Culver to the East. This has been a horrible, miserable experience for me. The 'road rash' was extremely painful due to the asphalt conditions. The one wound on the top of my knee barely bleed because the rough asphalt tom the skin beyond the entire edema layers. It hurt a month later to even have clothing rub over it. I have never experienced a broken bone before and it happened to be my dominant hand that broke. And, I have never seen sparks before in front of my eyes as my head bounced on the pavement a couple times while the rest of me dug into the rough asphalt. All this at less than 20 mph. We live a very active lifestyle and this was the worse time this could of happened this year. Our club was holding a criterium race the next day and we were in charge of the concessions. We had to get the supplies from storage (I made my family go without me since I was having fainting spells), later we had to get the supplies and food and then keep me up to make sure I did not have more than a headache. The next day, we worked from early morning to late afternoon; lone-handed. I tried a spray bandage that was recommended by another cyclist, that I bought at Albertson's, a store I do not normally shop at. The propellant in it stung beyond belief on the burned skin and so I threw it out. On August 1 st, I had to fly to Hartford, Connecticut first thing in the morning for a business commitment that I could not cancel. Because my hand was so swollen and the cabin pressure in the airplane, I bought a hand brace and self medicated until I returned to make an appointment. I knew from my professional experience that the doctor could do no more until I returned. On the return leg of the trip, I was up 22 hours due to weather- related delays and a rerouted flight to LAX. I did not get home until 2AM in the morning. I had to travel light because I could not lift my carry-on in the overhead compartment and had little with me, nor could get comfortable sleeping or sitting the entire trip. I was stiff and sore and the wounds were oozing. I had to keep conspicuous and cover up the bandages - in the middle of summer - so people would not be disgusted or say anything. My left hand had turned so black and blue it looked like it had rotted. The bandages required changing frequently because of the wounds at the joints and the bending and walking, trying to carry things and the constant oozing, the smell after a few hours and the nasty yellow fluid underneath. Although Tegaderm is recommended for bums to keep out the air to reduce contamination and infection, reduce scarring and maintain mobility in the damaged skin without sticking to the bandages, I had to purchase them at the medical supply store as it was the only place that had large enough bandages to cover the surface area of the wounds. And, I had to constantly replenish them. On the sixth day, I broke out in a red rash under the Tegaderm that caused itching and stinging so I discontinued using them and had to deal with wrapping the raw flesh with cotton gauze. This required more frequent changing and sticking/staining of clothing. The next weekend after the accident was our son's Boy Scout Eagle Project. It is something that takes month's to plan. I could not help as planned as I was still one handed. And there was little shade and a very hot weekend outdoors. The heat and sun makes the scarred flesh bum more even under protection. I finally got an appointment with the orthopedic doctor the next Thursday because he is only in the office two days a week and I knew him from when our son broke his arm some 10 years earlier. It was confirmed my left hand was broke and although it was healing, it needed to be immobilized for three more weeks. This limited my hand use which caused me to be less productive at work and more reliant on my family at home. When the doctor took the cast off, he said the hand was 90% healed but it ached and had little strength. He told me to do normal household and garden chores to work the hand. I put up with it as long as I could; the lack of strength, aching, and lack of range of motion. The change in weather caused more aching so I sought the advise of oUf chiropractor. The chiropractor worked out the calcification and gave me exercises for strength and stretching and to eliminate progression of arthritis. It has greatly improved and although it is not 100% of where it was, I am ready to accept that and at least can lift and maneuver things with the hand that I could not since the accident. The scars are barely noticeable on the thigh and shoulder, but the others will take considerable more time. I still need to keep them covered outside to allow them to heal. lhave supplied you with all the documentation not only for expenditures, but to demonstrate that the events I have indicated are true of this experience. I have provided literature on the required replacement of the bicycle components and helmet as these are safety issues. The helmet is cracked in two places and the levers are so gouged, the carbon is compromised and becomes brittle. The levers can break while I'm shifting or applying the brakes and the derailleur could snap during a quick shift. All.or any of this could case me to go down and/or take others down with me. I have taken the bike apart and am not using these items. I shopped for prices and downgraded the one-year-old helmet because it was what was available on sale and met my needs. The jersey was bought at a discount because the racing season was over and we have a new design and sponsors each year. Gloves and shoes get scuffed and worn; I accept that. I still have all damaged items available to see if the photos are unsatisfactory. I have depicted a true account and am available to discuss this further if you wish. I believe I have made a reasonable request and really just want to be compensated and." move on. tt~erelY; /' //~ , '