Metro to pay $4.25 million to man struck by Gold Line train
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man whose foot was amputated after he was hit by a Gold Line train, officials said Monday.
Gilberto Rebollar was hit by a train in 2009 in a pedestrian crosswalk near the Southwest Museum Station in Mount Washington.
In a lawsuit filed in 2009, Rebollar’s attorneys accused Metro of negligence, saying the train was moving too quickly and a design flaw in the crosswalk on Marmion Way made it difficult for pedestrians to see oncoming trains.
Metro’s board of directors approved a $4.25-million settlement payment in closed session in March, spokesman Rick Jager said. The money will come from the agency’s operations budget.
The settlement agreement does not include any admission of wrongdoing.
After the accident, Metro installed a signal that flashes to warn pedestrians that trains come from both directions, Jager said.
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