For reasons in addition to the multi-million dollar award, state officials should pay close attention to a recent court ruling on Big Island in favor of a traffic accident victim. A Hilo man was left paralyzed after his car went
For reasons in addition to the multi-million dollar award, state officials should pay close attention to a recent court ruling on Big Island in favor of a traffic accident victim.
A Hilo man was left paralyzed after his car went off a state highway and down a steep slope on Easter Sunday 13 years ago. He sued the state, claiming his injuries could have been avoided if there had been guard rails on that stretch of road that was built by the state in the late 1960s. A Circuit Court judge ruled the state was negligent and ordered it to pay the man $3.3 million.
The state surely is vulnerable to other expensive judgments against the state for poorly designed or unsafe highways that motorists must brave every day. The Hilo case should be extra incentive to improve any unncessarily dangerous conditions.
