L.A. Is Urged to Pay $125,000 in Traffic Death

A Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday recommended that the city pay $125,000 to the parents of a promising child tennis player killed by a motorist as the youngster walked across a section of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City that was temporarily without lane lines.

The accident that killed Cesar De La Canal, then the top-ranked 10-year-old tennis player in Southern California, occurred in November, 1982. The boulevard had just been repaved, but city crews had not yet painted lane lines, said Assistant City Atty. Philip J. Sugar.

The unanimous recommendation by the council’s Finance Committee sent the settlement proposal to the full council for its approval.

Sugar urged the committee to accept the negotiated settlement with the youth’s parents, Luciano De La Canal and Edith Aristizabal of North Hollywood, saying that, if the case went to trial, the city would have “better than a 50% chance to win, but, if we lost, we could get hit for a lot more.”

The youth, with a companion, was crossing in the middle of a block between Whitsett and Coldwater Canyon avenues, Sugar said.

When De La Canal reached down to pick up a tennis ball, he was fatally struck by a car driven by Nelson Chow.

In his deposition, Chow testified that he did not see De La Canal because he was concentrating on the pavement, searching for lane lines, Sugar said.

In recommending that the city settle, Sugar said he was influenced by the fact that the accident occurred six weeks after paving was completed.

The roadway had not been repainted because of a mix-up among city departments, he said.

At the time of his death, De La Canal was ranked No. 1 in the 10-and-under age group by the Southern California Tennis Assn.

He was coached by Paul Cohen, who also coached tennis star John McEnroe.