Vol. 56 No. 7

Trial Magazine

Verdicts & Settlements: Government Liability

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Improper placement of crosswalk

July 2020

Austin Fite, 18, was skateboarding from a park through a marked crosswalk near an intersection in the city of Puyallup, Wash., when he was struck by Lee Mudd, who was driving a pickup truck through the intersection. Fite suffered a fractured femur, requiring surgery; skull fractures; and bilateral detached retinas, necessitating numerous surgeries and resulting in legal blindness in his left eye and vision impairment in his right. Additionally, he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Fite had planned on becoming a union construction worker at the time of the incident but now works as a gas station attendant earning approximately $15 per hour. He incurred more than $353,000 in past medical expenses.

Fite sued the city, alleging it improperly placed the crosswalk not at the intersection but straight down from it. The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant should have installed flashing lights and signs to alert drivers to the intersection and reduced the speed limit in the area.

The jury awarded $6.5 million, finding Fite 33% at fault.

Citation: Fite v. Mudd, No. 17-2-09531-7 (Wash. Super. Ct. Pierce Cty. Nov. 4, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Ben Barcus and Paul Lindenmuth, both of Tacoma, Wash.

Plaintiff experts: Paul Inouye, general surgery, and Evelyn Fu, ophthalmology, both of Tacoma; and Tom Ballard, traffic engineering, and Joellen Gill, human factors, both of Spokane, Wash.

Defense experts: Steve Hamilton, neuro-ophthalmology, Seattle; John Fisher, traffic engineering, and Gerry Bretting, accident reconstruction, both of Los Angeles; and Erin Harley, human factors, Bellevue, Wash.