Facts

Jay Korber sued the City and County of San Francisco and Timothy Cresci, in connection with a motor vehicle accident that occurred on Dec. 13, 2012 at the intersection of Brannan and 5th Sts. in San Francisco.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended that just after midnight, he was run over by a street sweeper driven by Cresci as he rode his bicycle into the intersection. Korber was stopped to the left of the sweeper at a red light. When the light changed to green, both Korber and the sweeper proceeded forward. Plaintiff claimed that the sweeper suddenly cut a hard left to make a U-turn, as was Cresci's normal route. Korber claimed he was unable to move out of the way of the sweeper, which had a very sharp turning radius. Cresci did not hear Korber's screams, and plaintiff claimed Cresci continued through his U-turn after pinning Korber and dragging him approximately 20 feet. Cresci then saw people waving and screaming at him, and he stopped. The city's heavy rescue team arrived on scene, and used inflatable jacks to lift the sweeper to free Korber. Plaintiff claimed that Cresci remained in the cab of the sweeper while Korber was being freed. Korber never lost consciousness. Korber sued defendants for negligence and vicarious liability.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants denied plaintiff's allegations, and asserted various affirmative defenses. Defendants also asserted that testing at San Francisco General Hospital showed that Korber was legally intoxicated, in violation of V.C. 21200.5, and that Korber failed to have a light on his bicycle, in violation of V. C. 21201. Korber admitted to having 4-5 beers during the course of the evening, leading up to the accident.

Injuries

Korber claimed to have sustained an open book pelvic fracture that was treated with external fixation, a comminuted left transverse acetabular fracture treated temporarily with a femoral traction pin, then with surgery to place hardware. Korber also claimed to have open pubic bone (ramus) fractures, closed sacroiliac disruption fractures, closed fractures of multiple other pelvic bones, and a right sacroiliac joint dislocation, fixed with 3 cannulated screws. Korber also sustained a right groin laceration, and a ruptured bladder that was repaired surgically, and a torn rectum, which required him to have a colostomy, and was taken down over four months later in another surgery under general anesthesia. Korber claimed he sustained a small bilateral pneumothoraxs, a nondisplaced 7th rib fracture, ecchymosis of the right arm and lower abdomen, and road rash/abrasions of all extremities. Korber also had embolization of both iliac arteries with gelfoam. Korber had an additional surgery the following summer, to remove some bony overgrowth (heterotopic ossification), which was limiting the range of motion of his hip, and to remove hip fixation hardware. Plaintiff's orthopedic expert believes it is likely that he will need hip replacement surgery in the future. Korber also suffered other effects of his pelvic and vascular injuries, which impaired his sexual function.

Result

The parties agreed to a $4,072,519 total settlement, including a cash payment of $3,750,000, and waiver of a San Francisco General Hospital lien of $967,556.