The family of a 5-year-old boy hit and killed by a pick-up truck
on 10th Street last year has filed a claim against the city for
wrongful death and emotional distress.
The claims, which call for an unspecified amount of monetary
damages, are the first legal steps before the Trejo family can sue
the city in civil court.
Gilroy – The family of a 5-year-old boy hit and killed by a pick-up truck on 10th Street last year has filed a claim against the city for wrongful death and emotional distress.
The claims, which call for an unspecified amount of monetary damages, are the first legal steps before the Trejo family can sue the city in civil court.
“By reason of the death of Brayan Trejo,” the claim states, Balbina and Jesus Trejo “have been deprived of the care, comfort, society, love and affection of their son.”
The boy was killed in June 2006 while crossing 10th Street at the intersection with Church Street. Trejo, astride a red scooter, and his 13-year-old brother Jesus, had the right of way as they headed south across 10th Street when a southbound truck turned left and struck the younger boy.
Family and friends devastated by the accident are convinced Trejo would be alive if the intersection had a left-turn signal. A team of engineers hired by the Trejo’s attorneys agreed, pointing out plenty of other shortcomings at an intersection they dubbed “dangerous and defective”: too few turning lanes, inappropriate speed limit, and improper road striping, to name a few.
The intersection where Trejo died ranks 13th on the city’s list of 50 most dangerous crossroads, according to a February 2005 traffic study. Of the 23 collisions that took place at the intersection between 2000 and 2003, only one involved a pedestrian and none led to a fatality.
Each day, 20,000 cars pass the area where Trejo was killed, according to a 2006 traffic study.
“It’s not right and they could have prevented this,” said Paul Caputo, the family’s attorney. “Obviously the Trejo family is still in a state of morning. I suppose there are some ingredients of anger, but I think now they’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t’ want this to happen to another child or any individual.”
The initial outcry from family and friends prompted the city to push forward on a new signal for the intersection. The estimated $300,000 project is still under design but will include four turning lanes, each controlled by a signal.
The upgrades would have been triggered in a few years by projected traffic increases, officials say. By 2011, the city plans to build a 10th Street bridge to connect the road with a planned community of 1,693 homes in southwest Gilroy.
The new signal may arrive sooner than expected, but officials are not ready to admit responsibility for Trejo’s death. Next week, city council members will vote on a staff recommendation to reject the family’s claims. The move, typical in complex cases where the city does not admit fault, triggers a six-month time limit for the family to file a lawsuit. If the city accepts the claim, the family will have another 18 months to negotiate a settlement or file a suit.
LeeAnn McPhillips, Gilroy’s risk manager, would not reveal whether officials plans to discuss a settlement with the Trejo family. An insurance policy with a $50,000 deductible would cover the city if it lost a court battle, she said.
As the family presses forward with its claims, the woman who hit Trejo is nearing the end of her legal process. Robertina Franco, of Gilroy, pleaded no contest this month to a charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. She is awaiting sentencing.
Witnesses said they observed Franco holding a cell phone just after the accident, though phone records show she was not making or receiving calls when Trejo was hit.
“In today’s world, people are talking on cell phones, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper while they’re driving,” Councilman Dion Bracco said. “Sooner or later, we have to take some personal responsibility.”
