Brain Damage Case : Panel Supports Paying $301,666 to Crash Victim

A Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday recommended that the city pay $301,666 to a woman who suffered brain damage in a traffic accident at the same Chatsworth intersection where another motorist was seriously injured nearly 18 months earlier.

The payment, if approved by the full council and Mayor Tom Bradley, would be the city’s share of a $600,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Lindy Sue Benninghoven, 23, who was injured in a collision June 15, 1982, at Prairie Street and Oakdale Avenue.

The accident was almost identical to one that occurred at the same intersection in January, 1981. In that earlier accident, the city paid $737,500 to Maria Berwaldt, 34, who suffered brain damage after the car in which she was riding was broadsided by another car.

In both cases, the injured parties contended that the city was largely at fault because the intersection was poorly designed and dangerous.

At the time, the intersection was part of a newly developed commercial and industrial area that had no structures, Assistant City Atty. Philip J. Sugar said in a report to the City Council.

During excavation for the streets and lots, a 4-foot-high embankment of dirt, covered with brush and weeds, was piled along both Oakdale and Prairie. The mound made it difficult for vehicles on one street to see cross traffic.

Until 1986, no speed-limit signs were posted; therefore, the assumed limit was 55 m.p.h. According to Sugar, 23 accidents occurred at the intersection between 1981 and 1983.

Changes Made

Several changes have been made at the intersection since 1983, including switching from two-way to four-way stop signs and posting of a 30 m.p.h. speed limit. The accident rate has since dropped to less than two a year, Sugar said. He added that he was unaware of any further lawsuits against the city involving the intersection.

In recommending the settlement, Sugar said that if the case went to a trial, “a jury would probably find that the city of Los Angeles is responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries.” He cited the fact that the city should have realized that a 55 m.p.h. speed limit was too high and that the elevated dirt pads would hide cross traffic. He also cited the city’s failure to review its own records to recognize the high accident rate at the intersection.

Benninghoven is physically able to attend special education classes, but is only being taught basic skills so that she can better function in a daily routine, Sugar said. “She will need constant future medical care and must have constant lifetime assistance.”

Her past medical bills total about $160,000, and future care is estimated to be $15,000 a year.

Most of the rest of the proposed settlement will be paid by Southern Pacific Industrial Development Co., which owned the property adjacent to the intersection; its construction contractors and subcontractors, and a company that leased the land at the time, Sugar said.

The driver of the other car in the accident will pay $15,000, the limit of his liability insurance policy.