If you’re standing outside a busy nightclub in downtown San Diego, California, odds are you’re not thinking about a cab swerving off the road and into a crowd of people. But that’s exactly what happened to a group of unfortunate club-goers over a year ago, and one of the victims says the city is to blame. The driver of the cab had fallen asleep before veering into the crowd of people, and the victim says this is the direct result of the city failing to adopt an ordinance needed to keep cab drivers from working too many hours.
The victim, who has undergone nine surgeries and months of physical therapy since the car accident, recently filed a suit against the city of San Diego because of the lack of regulations that keep cab drivers from working too many hours, resulting in fatigued and potentially negligent cab drivers. She says that the California DMV has established limits that many other cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have adopted, but San Diego has not adopted these limits and thus doesn’t properly protect its cab drivers, motorists and pedestrians.
Attorneys for the city of San Diego say that the negligent driver, not the city, is to blame, but this suit will force the city to examine whether cab drivers are overworked and unregulated to the point of causing a public safety concern. In this case, the city will have to take a hard look at its policies so that hopefully incidents like this can be avoided in the future.
The victim, meanwhile, has also filed suit against the cab company as well and may be eligible for damages including her physical injuries, mental duress and other compensation. When a person is injured by no fault of their own and forced to undergo hardship as a result, an experienced personal injury attorney can help a victim hold those responsible accountable.
Source: NBC San Diego, “Gaslamp Cab Crash Victim Sues City” Mari Payton, May 3, 2012
