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By Lookout Staff
June 12 -- A Santa Monica jury last week awarded
nearly $14 million to a man hurt when the County bus he was
riding hit a parked truck. Attorneys for the defendant claim
the driver had a history of failing to control the vehicle.
Joseph L. Garcia, 58, reportedly suffered permanent brain
damage and remains paralyzed on his left side after the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) bus he was on hit a parked
vehicle on Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica in June
of 2005.
Garcia's attorney hailed the punitive verdict last Friday,
but called on Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to open
a full-scale investigation into the MTA's training practices.
"As an ordinary member of the public, Joseph Garcia
had every right to expect that the person driving the MTA
bus he boarded was properly trained," said Geoffrey S.
Wells, a lawyer with the Santa Monica-based Greene, Broillet
and Wheeler.
"We ask that Mayor Villaraigosa and our city leaders
take notice of this case and use it to spearhead an investigation
of the MTA," said Green in a statement. "Until then,
the MTA is the equivalent of a five-alarm fire burning out
of control."
The driver, Sylvia Delana Fairfax, allegedly failed on four
previous occasions to control a bus so that it remains clear
of parked vehicles on the right side of the bus, according
to Green. She eventually graduated from MTA training program
and went on to become a driver.
Calls to Fairfax's attorneys were not returned, and MTA officials
said they could not comment on her previous driving record,
since it is considered a personnel issue. Fairfax no longer
works with the MTA.
MTA Spokesperson Rick Jager, however, disputed claims that
the training program needs an overhaul.
Currently the MTA employs 4,500 bus operators, who undergo
a training program he described as "rigorous," according
to Jager.
Jager said the MTA has accepted liability for the accident
-- which he said was a "very unfortunate situation"
-- and that the transit agency had been seeking a settlement
with Garcia.
MTA formally accepted liability on May 31 and the recent
verdict was only for damages.
Jager said Garcia's attorneys were seeking $48 million before
the verdict was returned.
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