Panel Backs Payment for Victim of Accident

A Los Angeles City Council panel Tuesday recommended that the city pay $250,000 of a $399,900 out-of-court settlement to a Thousand Oaks man who was seriously injured in a bizarre accident on the Ventura Freeway.

The Sept. 27, 1984, accident was triggered when a partially raised dumpster on top of a city garbage truck hit an overpass in the eastbound lanes of the freeway at Mureau Road. The dumpster was knocked off the truck onto the freeway.

A car traveling behind the truck swerved to avoid the dumpster and collided with a vehicle driven by Calvin Alquist. Alquist’s vehicle, in turn, struck the concrete center divider.

Alquist, 63, suffered major lower back injuries from the accident, said Assistant City Atty. Philip J. Sugar. He was required to take early retirement from his job as an appliance salesman from Sears, Roebuck.

Committee Recommendation

Under a recommendation sent to the full council by its Finance and Revenue Committee, the city will pay $250,000 to Alquist. The other $149,900 would be paid by the insurance company of the other driver, Barbara Stevens, Sugar said.

The driver of the garbage truck could not explain why the dumpster was not in the usual fully retracted position so that it would have cleared the bridge, Sugar said.

“He said he was unaware that the dumpster was sticking up in the air prior to it being knocked off by the freeway over crossing,” Sugar said. “An inspection of the vehicle after the accident by city employees indicated that the truck was in good mechanical condition.”

The dumpster, which lifts trash up and over the cab and dumps it into the truck, is usually lowered into an opening on top of the truck when not in use.

“On this occasion, the dumpster had not been completely lowered into the truck, but remained in an upright position over the top of the truck cab,” Sugar said.

Alquist’s lost income, including lost pension benefits, is in excess of $300,000, added Sugar, who recommended the settlement. “Additional medical treatment, including pain management and possible future surgery, could exceed $25,000.”

Alquist’s wife, Joyce, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 1952 because of polio, is “totally dependent on her husband for all of the daily necessities of life and due to his inability to lift any heavy objects, he is unable to provide her the daily care she needs,” Sugar said.

“It is in the best interest of the city to settle this matter,” Sugar said. “In view of the serious injuries and the plaintiff’s inability to care for his wheelchair-bound wife, a potential verdict in this case could greatly exceed the amount of the settlement.”