A Seattle cyclist is one step closer to a personal injury lawsuit against Washington State. The man was paralyzed when his bike tire became stuck in the Montlake Bridge - a mistake in construction that the biker believes has caused accidents in the past.

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Andrew Kim Law Firm, PLLC | Washington Legal News

Seattle Man Suing State After Bike Accident On Bridge Leads To Paralysis


Posted on Feb 27, 2009

On October 28, 2007, cyclist Michael Gendler was involved in a serious bike accident on Seattle's Montlake Bridge. His serious injuries resulted in paralysis in both of his legs and partial paralysis in his arms. The accident occurred when Gendler's bike tire became lodged in the bridge's deck, flinging the biker onto the ground, where he received his permanent spinal injury.

Now, a year later, The Olympian reports that Gendler is preparing to sue the state of Washington for negligence, with his personal injury attorneys claiming that the bridge's construction was negligent and that the bridge is defective for bikers. Part of his case will involve cyclist crash data over the past few years in connection with the city's bridge.

This week, a judge ruled that the data should be made available because of the Public Records Act, and told the Washington State Patrol and Washington Department of Transportation to hand over the bike accident data.

It is unclear whether or not the Washington State District Attorneys Office will appeal the decision, or whether that appeal would necessarily mean that the information would continue to be withheld. Some question remains regarding whether or not public records such as bike accident reports collected by the government can be used again the government in a lawsuit. Some worry that releasing the information may endanger the collection of federal highway safety funds, which are often based on data collected from accidents sites such as bridges.

"It's a public record," Assistant DA Rene Tomisser said last week of the accident data. "But federal law imposes a limitation on its use. It can't be used for damages against the government."

Gendler's case will certainly be strengthened if the data about bike accidents on the bridge illustrates a trend of serious injuries resulting from the construction of the bridge's deck, or if the data shows that the Washington State government was aware of a problem with the bridge's design but did nothing to fix the problem and was negligent in its response to the issue.

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