The Civil Case
Plaintiffs – Iskander
CIVIL LAWSUIT filed by Iskander’s against the City of Westlake Village, Los Angeles County, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) and the State of California included the following allegations:
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION (Dangerous Condition of Public Property by PLAINTIFFS (ISKANDER’S)
Against Defendants CALTRANS, CITY OF WESTLAKE VILLAGE, LA COUNTY, State of CA and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive.
PLAINTIFFS are informed, believe, and thereon allege, that at all times herein relevant, the SUBJECT INTERSECTION, where the SUBJECT COLLISION occurred, was defective and contained various dangerous conditions pursuant to Government Code sections.
The SUBJECT INTERSECTION created a dangerous condition which was not reasonably apparent to even prudent motorists and pedestrians; b. The SUBJECT INTERSECTION lacks any or has insufficient and/or defective warning signs, signals, or other forms of warning to alert drivers or pedestrians; c. The street lights located at the SUBJECT INTERSECTION and/or street lights located on the adjacent property that were necessary to make the SUBJECT INTERSECTION and/or SUBJECT CROSSWALK safe for pedestrian travel were operating in a defective manner or not operating at all — “thereby preventing motorists from having the ability to see pedestrians traveling at the SUBJECT CROSSWALK”;
Indeed, GOVERNMENT ENTITIES actually knew of this dangerous condition based upon numerous prior collisions at or near this same location, complaints regarding the SUBJECT INTERSECTION, their maintenance of the SUBJECT INTERSECTION, public hearings regarding the SUBJECT INTERSECTION. Yet, they failed to use reasonable care and failed to repair the unreasonable risk of harm, failed to protect against harm from the condition, and/or failed to adequately warn of the unreasonable risk of harm created by, among other things, these inadequate and unsafe sight lines and sight distances. As a direct and foreseeable result of these failures, the location of the SUBJECT COLLISION constituted a concealed trap to all foreseeable users”.
Much of the information in the civil claim came from numerous documented complaints made by citizens regarding this very intersection dating back to 2012, however, the Judge for the upcoming trial has blocked the defense from showing the jury any information on this intersection and the complaints made by citizens over the last decade.