I have two teenage children. Both my daughter, a very talented musician and singer, and my son, a precise and analytical thinker, are priceless to me. I would gladly give my life to save the life of either. I am sure most parents would. If I were asked to place a value on their life I could not. No parent should ever have to. Balbina and Jesus Mendoza-Trejo recently did just that. They settled their wrongful death suit for $100,000, according to a city of Gilroy press release. The Trejo family also received $30,000 from the insurance carrier of the driver, Robertina Franco, of the truck that struck and killed Brayan Trejo.
In January 2007 Trejo family attorney Paul Caputo said the family came to the conclusion that they didn't want what happened to their son happening to anyone else. Caputo added that the city could have prevented the death had a light been in place.
I wrote in 2007 that the lawsuit against the city was only about money because it did not include a demand for an immediate signal at Tenth and Church. In 2006 I wrote that the death of Trejo required swift and sure jurisprudence. The legal system delivered its justice: Robertina Franco in the form of community service and a $110 fine. The Trejo lawsuit did nothing to improve pedestrian safety at that intersection. It was merely about the almighty buck. How about that for a kick in the teeth? No immediate protected left turn lane and a settlement that pinched money from every Gilroyan.
Pinched money from every Gilroyan? You betcha! The population of Gilroy is roughly 50,000. Gilroy, as a city, makes no product or sells no service. The city of Gilroy has no way of making money other than taxation, investment of those taxes, and fees. In fact, the city cannot pay out any money until we give it one way or another. Therefore, any lawsuit against the city is in effect a lawsuit against the collective residents of Gilroy. I guess that means I just paid the Trejo family two bucks. How about all the folks who donated money for the Trejo's funeral expenses, food, and support for the family in the wake of Brayan's death?
The Indiana University School of Medicine claims to have placed an approximate value on the human body from the aspect of a body's life-saving potential: $45 million. It's not the organs that are the big ticket items as I expected, but the bone marrow having the highest price tag of nearly $23 million. According to the IU study, the kidney and pancreas I received from a cadaveric donor via transplant in November 2003 were worth a mere $140,000. A heart is worth about $100K. The study goes on to say a healthy immune system is worth about $7.5 million, with DNA going for just under $10 million. The US government has something to say on the subject also. The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils invested many a hard-earned tax dollar in calculating the chemical and mineral composition of the human body and concluded that the human body, when broken down into its basic elements and minerals, is only worth about $4.50.
I'd be absolutely livid and want blood from the driver of that truck if it were either of my children in "that" intersection "that" day. Hindsight being 20/20, I'd hope were it me I wouldn't have forgotten the one thing that might have saved my child that fateful day, a left-turn lane. Maybe wanting to protect other children from dying in that intersection got lost amidst a language barrier with their lawyer and the city. Maybe it got lost after seeing how little money remained after the contingency agreement decimated the first $30,000. Whenever it got lost is irrelevant. It did, and nobody is a winner because it did. Nobody's a winner the day that $100,000 settlement check is cashed. Not the Trejo family, not Gilroy or any of her residents - especially the Trejo's old neighbors still living near "that intersection."
Ben Anderson Columnist Ben Anderson is a long-time Gilroyan and father of two fantastic teens. You can reach him at heyben@bdkr.net. His column is published every Wednesday.
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