A judge has thrown out a lawsuit by six bicyclists who claimed the city of Seattle created unsafe conditions when it opened a streetcar line.
As soon as Seattle’s South Lake Union Trolley (S.L.U.T.) opened for business in 2007, Seattle cyclists started crashing around the tracks at a regular rate.
It turns out the gap in the street for the trolley tracks — 44 mm — was just wide enough to catch their tires and flip their bikes.
Reacting to the epidemic of crashes and a protest ride by cyclists, the city posted warning signs and painted a safe route across the tracks.
By then, the damage had been done to the six individuals, who suffered serious injuries in their falls. They filed a lawsuit against the city for compensation for their injuries.
They and their attorneys argued that documents warned city officials about the potential dangers of the tracks to bicyclists, but the city did absolutely nothing to reduce the dangers ahead of time.
The Seattle Times reports that the judge ruled the city fulfilled the design and engineering standards for streetcar tracks. The bicyclists’ attorneys will file a motion to reconsider.
It seems that common sense would tip off engineers to the fact that the tracks at the side of the street would pose a problem for bicyclists that needed to be addressed before the trolly opened.
Elsewhere in the city bureaucracy, a program is underway to replace storm grates whose slots run parallel to the road. A man won $25,000 from the city for injuries he suffered he crashed after his bike tire got caught in one of those slots.
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