Jury Requires Caltrans to Pay $6.3 Million in Damages for 2004 Car Crash

By Andrew Weatherford

Published on June 30, 2009

In a jury verdict reached last Friday, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is required to pay $6.3 million in damages in lawsuits stemming from a 2004 car crash.

A jury ruled that Caltrans was partially at fault for the accident in which a teenage girl intentionally sped on a rolling stretch of road that runs through the San Bernardino Mountains.

Two teenagers were killed in the accident, and their families will receive damages for wrongful death. A surviving passenger will receive damages for personal injury.

The driver of the vehicle survived and pleaded guilty in juvenile court to charges of vehicular manslaughter. She was speeding at the time of the accident with the intent to go airborne when she lost control of the vehicle.

Caltrans argued that the road was safe as long as drivers did not speed and followed other traffic laws. The jurors in the case determined that Caltrans was aware of the hazardous nature of the road and, therefore, partially responsible for the accident.

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