SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR KING COUNTY
AVIV LITOV, adult child, through his Power of Attorney TZACHI LITOV; LARA and TZACHI LITOV, his parents.
Plaintiffs, v.
CITY OF SEATTLE, a governmental entity, XU CHEN, an individual;
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
CASESYNOPSIS
A government tasked with the duty to provide reasonable safe roadways for the travelling public, cannot assert its good intentions as an excuse for making the roadways even worse.
Here, the Defendant City of Seattle, implemented a bike lane configuration in the Greenlake neighborhood. Hoping that it would make travelling safer. Instead it negligently created dangerous sight obstructions that resulted in a collision between a right turning car and a bicycle. With catastrophic results.
Plaintiffs allege:
1.1Plaintiff Aviv Litov is an unmarried person, and at all material times resided in Seattle, King County, Washington until the incident (he now lives with his parents). His father has Power of Attorney.
1.2Plaintiffs Lara and Tzachi Litov are the parents of Aviv, and are a married couple, and at all material times resided in Puyallup, Pierce County, Washington with their son.
1.3Defendant City of Seattle is a first-class city as described in RCW 35.22.010 and is governed and organized in accordance with the Washington State Constitution Article 11, Section 10, Amendment 40.
1.4Defendant Xu Chen, at all material times, was a resident of Bothell, Snohomish County, Washington.
2.1Plaintiffs filed their notice of tort claims with the City of Seattle on October 31, 2024. More than 60 days have elapsed since the claims were filed before the filing of Plaintiffs’ complaint against Defendant City of Seattle. The filing of this claim properly satisfied the notice and other procedural requirements of RCW 4.96 et. seq.
2.2On August 1, 2024, and August 2, 2024 prior to service of the Claims for Damages and before the filing of this Complaint, Plaintiffs’ attorneys issued Public Records Requests to the following City of Seattle entities:
a.Seattle Police Department
• Incident Number: Case #24-167960
• Incident Date: June 20, 2024
• Incident Time: 1542
• Incident Location: Green Lake Dr North and N 80th Street
• Investigating Officers: D. Foley, Badge #6920
Any and all records regarding vehicle collision on June 20, 2024 at 1542 hours on Green Lake Dr N and N 80th St in Seattle, WA, including, but not limited to, investigation report findings and conclusions, graphs and measurements for example LASAR measuring device, photographs (including photos of scene, investigation, and injuries of victims), videos, body cam video, dash cam video, downloads from any vehicle data recorder, driver and witness statements and/or interviews, videos of scene or witnesses, witness statements or interviews, 911 calls, CAD logs, non-party witness interviews and statements, citations, charges resulting from accident, narratives, blue book notes, memorandums, texts, social media posts, voicemails, toxicology laboratory results, criminal laboratory records or any other type of document whether in hard copy or electronic format.
b.City of Seattle Department of Transportation
Public Records Request to the City of Seattle regarding the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
Please produce any and all documents, computer data, and photographs or video concerning the following:
1.All studies which the City of Seattle has reviewed and/or has in its possession, related to parked car/bus stop buffers between motor vehicle traffic and bike lanes. This includes but is not limited to those by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), World Resource Institution (WRI) or any other study.
2.All studies which the City of Seattle has undertaken or authorized related to parked car/bus stop buffers between motor vehicle traffic and bike lanes.
3.All traffic studies in the past 5 years regarding motorized vehicle and bicycle traffic (roadway and bike lane), on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
4. All studies in the past 5 years regarding the layout, signage, lighting, vegetation, traffic lights, obstructions, or other issues that involved the lane designation or flow of traffic, (roadway and bike lane), on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
5. All engineering plans in the past 5 years regarding concerning new lane layout, signs, lighting, vegetation, traffic lights, obstructions, or other issues that involved the lane designation or flow of traffic, (roadway and bike lane), on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
6. All complaints made to the City in the past 5 years regarding safety issues regarding the layout, signs, lighting, vegetation, traffic lights, obstructions, accidents, injuries, or other issues that involved the lane designation or flow of traffic (roadway and bike lane), on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
7. All documentation regarding the handling of complaints set forth in number five above.
8.All reports, investigations, documents and materials related to motor vehicle or bicycle collision incidents in the past 5 years on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
9. The Master Plans, designing plan, or engineering plans for the layout of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street including the mapping of roadways, intersections, vehicle lanes, lights, bicycle lanes, installation of vegetation, signs, and lighting for the past ten (10) years.
10. The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) including the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Analysis (BPSA) on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
11. The Vision Zero plan applicable to on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
12.All records in the possession of the City of Seattle related to a bicycle and vehicle (2022 Tesla Model Y SUV, Plate # CBL9235) collision that occurred on June 20, 2024 involving bicyclist Aviv Litov and motor vehicle driver Xu Chen.
13.All body worn video related to #12.
14.All surveillance tape records related to #12.
15.All surveillance tape records in your position from on or within 5 blocks of the intersection of Green Lake Drive North and North 80th Street, in the City of Seattle.
III.JURISDICTIONANDVENUE
3.1The Superior Court of King County, State of Washington, has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to RCW 2.08.010.
3.2JurisdictionandvenueareproperintheSuperiorCourtofWashingtonKingCounty Seattle Division because the incident occurred in Seattle, King County, Washington, north of Interstate 90.
IV.FACTS
A.VISIONZERO
4.1The City of Seattle (Defendant City) has a duty to the public to provide safe roadways to its citizens including bicyclists on those roadways.
4.2Vision Zero is an initiative aimed at eliminating traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by adopting a comprehensive, systemic approach to road safety.
4.3In 2015, the Defendant City signed on to a Vision Zero goal, setting itself up to
eliminate all serious and fatal injuries on its streets by 2030.
4.4By signing on to Vision Zero, the Defendant City endorses the view that it can prevent serious and fatal injuries on its streets by taking a proactive preventative approach that prioritizes traffic safety as a public health issue.
4.5By committing to Vision Zero, the Defendant City challenges conventional traffic safety beliefs, which often accepts serious traffic injuries and fatalities as unavoidable; prioritizes flawless human behavior to prevent accidents; emphasize individual accountability; and view lifesaving measures as costly.
4.6By endorsing Vision Zero, the Defendant City maintains that traffic deaths are preventable and integrates human failing (the idea that human beings are error prone) as a critical component of road design
4.7To reach its goal, the City of Seattle looks at traffic designs, implements improvements, and develops design standards, that could lead to achieving its Vision Zero goals.
4.8Developing design standards includes developing bicycle design standards, reducing citywide speed limits, looking at lane widths, looking at bike lanes, looking at sight distance for drivers or bicyclists, or looking at signage.
4.9The manuals listed below inform and supplement the development of bicycle design standards included in the Right-of-Way Improvement Manual, and are used by the Defendant City when planning and designing bicycle facilities:
4.9.1American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (“AASHTO Bike Guide”);
4.9.2Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD);
4.9.3National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban
4.9.4Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide.
B.GREEN LAKE AND WALLINGFORD PAVING & MULTI-MODAL IMPROVEMENTS
4.10On July 29th, 2019, Defendant City initiated the Green Lake and Wallingford Paving & Multi-Modal Improvement project. The project was completed in 2021.
4.11This project was performed in a substantial part, to further the City’s Vision Zero initiative.
4.12As part of the project, the Defendant City redesigned lane layouts in the Green Lake area.
4.13 Figure1 below is an illustration of the project’s overview:
Figure 1: GREEN LAKE AND WALLINGFORD PAVING & MULTI-MODAL IMPROVEMENTS - PROJECT OVERVIEW
4.14Nearlyfour miles bikelaneswereredesignedand/oradded. Thisincludednew bike lanes along Green Lake Dr and Green Lake Way on the east side of the lake.
4.15 Figure 2 is a Southeast looking image of Green Lake Drive North before the road design revision.
BEFORE
4.16 Figure 3 is a Southeast image of Green Lake Drive North after the road design revision.
4.17The new configuration was premised on creating a barrier of parked cars between the main roadway and the bike lane.
4.18The use of parked cars as a barrier creates sight obstructions such as between vehicle drivers on the roads and bicyclists in the bike lane.
4.19The sight obstructions created by the parked car configurations are dangerous, particularly at driveways or intersections when drivers need to cross over the bike lane to complete a turn.
C.THEINCIDENT
4.20On June 20, 2024, Plaintiff Aviv Litov was wearing a helmet and riding his bicycle in the designated bike lane southeast on Green Lake Drive North.
4.21Plaintiff Litov had the right of way in his lane of travel.
4.22At the same time, a 2022 Tesla Model Y, driven by Defendant Xu Chen, was traveling in the same direction on the main road, intending to turn into the Green Lake Manor Apartment parking lot at 1340 N 79th St.
4.23As Defendant Chen neared her destination she was separated from Plaintiff Litov by a row of parked vehicles that were lawfully and properly parked in spaces so designated by the Defendant City.
4.24Defendant Chen initiated a right turn into the parking of the apartment complex but did not see Plaintiff Litov due to the obstruction created by the lawfully and properly parked vehicles in spaces so designated by the Defendant City.
4.25Defendant Chen would have seen Plaintiff Litov had her sight not been obstructed by the lawfully and properly parked vehicles in spaces so designated by the Defendant City.
4.26Defendant Chen claims she began turning just as Plaintiff Litov became visible
from behind the legally parked vehicles in Defendant City-designated spaces.
4.27Defendant Chen failed to yield the right of way to Plaintiff Litov.
4.28 Figure4 taken from the incident report illustrates the scene of the collision.
4.29Plaintiff Litov’s view of Defendant Chen was obstructed due to legally parked vehicles. These vehicles were in spaces designated by Defendant City.
4.30Plaintiff Litov did not have sufficient time to take evasive maneuvers to avoid impact with Defendant Chen.
4.31As shown in Figure 5 below, Plaintiff Litov struck the B pillar of the Tesla with his head, shattering the glass overlay of the pillar, and as shown in Figure 6 below, his bicycle collapsed as a result of the collision.
4.32Defendant City was negligent in redesigning the 7900 block of Greenway Lake Drive North.
4.33Defendant City violated established safety and design standards for roadway design
4.33...1Inadequate sight distance for the driver turning right;
4.33...2Inadequate sight distance for the bicyclist travelling through;
4.33...3Inadequate and/or lack of signage;
4.33...4Inadequate or lack of pavement markings;
4.33...5Deviation from AASTHO standards;
4.33...6Deviation from the Defendant City’s safety and design standards.
D.INJURIES
4.34As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ negligence, Aviv Litov sustained a profound permanently life changing traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other severe injuries for which he was treated at Harborview Medical Center.
V.LIABILITY
5.1Defendant City is the entity responsible for the roadway designs related to Green Lake and Wallingford Paving & Multi-Modal Improvement project.
5.2Defendant City is the entity responsible for traffic control signals, signs, and devices in Seattle (RCW 47.24.020(13)), including 7900 block of Greenway Lake Drive North.
5.3In designing, building, and maintaining the 7900 block of Greenway Lake Drive North, the Defendant City had a duty to exercise ordinary care in providing a roadway that was reasonably safe for ordinary travel by both motor vehicles and bicyclists.
5.4As a proximate result of its inadequate design and maintenance, the 7900 block of Greenway Lake Drive North was inherently dangerous for use by bicyclists.
5.5Defendant City negligently failed to provide reasonably safe roads for ordinary bicycle and vehicle use on the 7900 block of Greenway Lake Drive North.
5.6As a proximate result of Defendant City’s negligence, sight obstructions were positioned between the main area of the roadway and the bike lane.
5.7Defendant Chen had a duty to exercise ordinary care and to act in a manner that a reasonably careful person would have under the same or similar circumstances.
5.8Defendant Chen negligently failed to exercise reasonable care in the operation of her vehicle by not keeping a proper lookout or yielding when she made the turn into the Green Lake Manor Apartment parking lot at 1340 N 79th St.
5.9As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ combined negligence, Plaintiffs suffered damages.
VI.DAMAGES
6.1As a direct and proximate result of the above acts, omissions, and other conduct of Defendants, Plaintiff Aviv Litov has suffered and continues to suffer physical injury, pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of liberty, fear, and other general damages in amounts to be proven at the time of trial.
6.2As a direct and proximate result of the above acts, omissions, and other conduct of Defendants, Lara and Tzachi Litov, Aviv Litov’s parents, have suffered economic and noneconomicdamages,individuallyinamountstobeprovenatthetimeoftrial.RCW4.24.010. These damages include, but are not limited to the emotional distress related to caring for and maintaining a vigil for the benefit of Aviv Litov; and loss of emotional support, love, affection, care, services, companionship, and assistance.
6.3As a direct and proximate result of the above acts, omissions, and other conduct of
Defendant City, Plaintiff has been required to seek various health care treatments and will continue to require such treatments in the future, in amounts to be proven at the time of trial.
6.4As a direct and proximate result of the above acts, omissions, and other conduct of Defendant City, Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer lost wages, lost earning capacity, as well as other special damages, in amounts to be proven at the time of trial.
6.5Plaintiffs have incurred other damages to be proven at the time of trial.
VII.PRAYERFORRELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendants jointly and severally as follows:
1.For Judgment of liability.
2.For special and general damages in amounts to be proven at trial;
3.For costs and disbursements;
4.For statutory attorneys’ fees;
5.For statutory interest on the judgment from the date judgment is entered until paid in full;
6.For prejudgment interest on liquidated damages;
7.For such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and equitable.
DATED this 3rd day of January,
STRITMATTER KESSLER KOEHLER MOORE
Karen K. Koehler, WSBA#15325
Mo Hamoudi, WSBA #48512
3600 15th Ave W, Ste 300 Seattle, WA 98119
206-448-1777
karenk@stritmatter.com
mo@stritmatter.com
Counsel for Plaintiffs
