Facts

On Feb. 19, 2004, plaintiff Robert Crupi, 52, was on-duty as a Los Angeles Police Department motor officer, and had been driving a police motorcycle for 20 of his 30 years with the department. When he entered defendant's gas station at Rinaldi and Sepulveda in Mission Hills, he rode across some blue, "handicapped" markings that were flat, and the entire painted area at the far side of the station also appeared to be flat. However, at one point, the painted walkway rose up to a height of about three inches, and that raised area continued for several feet, before again becoming flat.

The right side of the front tire of the police motorcycle contacted the edge of the raised area of the walkway, and then the right side of the rear tire also came into contact with it, "locking" the motorcycle into sort of a "groove," which the plaintiff could not control, even at a low speed. After the area flattened out again after a short distance, and there was nothing contacting the right sides of the tires, the motorcycle fell over onto its right side, trapping the plaintiff under it.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the raised edge of the walkway constituted a dangerous and unsafe condition, and had no legitimate purpose. It was reasonably foreseeable that coming into contact with the raised edge of the walkway could injure someone on a two-wheeled vehicle like the plaintiff. Even though defendant had purchased the gas station only three months before the accident, it was charged with a duty to inspect the premises, and to repair any dangerous condition.

The appearance of the light blue painted handicapped markings or lines, especially when much of the painted area was flat, created an optical illusion that the entire painted area was flat, and this was also the finding of the LAPD's Fleet Safety Board (which investigates all officer-involved traffic collisions) who determined that the accident was non-preventable. This illusion made it difficult for plaintiff to discern that the raised edge posed a danger to him.

The plaintiff also contended that it was reasonable for him to not notice the raised area, since, by the time he came into contact with it, he was actually over it on his police motorcycle and unable to see that it was raised. When he first entered the lot, he had no reason to focus his attention on that one, small area where the walkway was raised.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that as a new owner of the property, the defendant did not have sufficient time to detect any problem with the area where the accident occurred. There had been no prior, and no subsequent accidents or injuries that happened in the same or similar manner to plaintiff's accident. It was not reasonably foreseeable that someone would hit the edge of the raised area of the handicapped walkway and be injured in the manner that plaintiff was injured. The handicapped markings were done as required by code. The defendant contended that the plaintiff was comparatively negligent for his own injuries.

Injuries

Severe, seven spiral fractures of right leg/ankle, requiring five surgeries, retained orthopedic hardware, with permanent mild limp, slight leg shortening, and scarring, discoloration and disfigurement. The plaintiff spent five months in a hospital bed in his living room with an external fixator device attached to his right lower leg.

Result

The case settled after a second mediation with Jeffrey Krivis, First Mediation, for $500,000, to include the loss of consortium claim of plaintiff Patricia Crupi and the settlement of the city's workers' compensation lien.

Other Information

The mediator made a "mediator's proposal" at the end of the second mediation session for $500,000 (at which time the defense was offering their top level of authority, $300,000, and plaintiff was demanding $800,000.) Following the mediation, the plaintiffs served a statutory offer to compromise pursuant to C.C.P. Section 998, for $500,000, to include the workers' compensation lien and the claims of both plaintiffs. The defendants obtained the additional authority two days later and the case then settled for $500,000. Plaintiff in intervention, city of Los Angeles accepted $132,500 to settle the compensation lien of $193,000 with a waiver of credit against future medical benefits. FILING DATE: Feb. 16, 2006.