Woman Injured at Northridge Intersection : Council Approves $500,000 Payment in Crash

Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a $500,000 settlement for a 23-year-old woman seriously injured in 1979 when the car in which she was riding collided with a truck on a rain-slicked Northridge street.

Under the settlement, Katherine Sills, who was 16 at the time of the accident, will be paid $290,000 in installments over an undisclosed number of years. Mommaerts & Rutledge, the Los Angeles law firm that represented Sills, will receive the remaining $210,000.

The settlement ends a lengthy court case against the city in which Sills, alleging deficiencies in the intersection at Tunney Avenue and Devonshire Street, won a judgment of nearly $2 million from a Superior Court jury in 1985.

Sleeping in Back of Car

Both sides agreed to the $500,000 settlement after the city took the Superior Court decision to the state Court of Appeal.

Sills’ accident occurred as she slept in the back of a car traveling south on Tunney toward Devonshire at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 20, 1979. Sills and three others in the car were returning from a trip to Disneyland, Assistant City Atty. Richard M. Helgeson said in a report to City Council.

It was dark and the street was slick from an intermittent rain, Helgeson said. The driver of the car, who had intended to make a right turn from Tunney onto Devonshire, testified at the trial that he did not see a stop sign “until the last second.” As he passed through the intersection without stopping, his vehicle was struck by a truck traveling about 40 m.p.h. on Devonshire, Helgeson said.

Lingering Injuries

Sills was hospitalized for a prolonged time, suffering neurological problems that affected her coordination, speech and intellectual level, Helgeson said.

During the jury trial, witnesses for Sills testified that the intersection was unsafe because the city had not installed a stop-ahead warning sign. They also said the stop sign should have been larger.

Helgeson said the city contended that the design of the intersection was appropriate and that no other accidents had occurred there in wet or dry weather.