Dangers of Carlsbad Road Cited : Family Files $23-Million Suit Over Fatal Crash

A family that lost an 11-year-old son in a traffic accident in Carlsbad last year has filed a $23-million lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. and the city of Carlsbad, blaming the fatality on what they claim were faulty seat belts and dangerous city roads.

The lawsuit also names the estate of Theresa Vargas, who was driving a car along windy Rancho Santa Fe Road on Nov. 13, swerved across its center line and collided head-on with a 1986 Ford Escort.

The Escort carried passengers James and Patricia Miller, the plaintiffs, and their twin sons. One of the boys, James, died in the accident; Richard was paralyzed from the waist down. Vargas, who was four months pregnant, also died in the collision.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by attorney Craig McClellan, who claims that the city of Carlsbad shares blame for the accident. The San Diego-based law firm specializes in serious injury and death cases resulting from defective products.

McClellan says Rancho Santa Fe Road--a two-lane, rural street--was poorly designed by the city and contains dangerous “S”-shaped bends and steep embankments that force cars into oncoming traffic. He says the city was also negligent in clearly posting proper warning signs.

Road ‘Perfectly Safe’

Although city officials acknowledge that Rancho Santa Fe Road could be improved, they maintain that the road is “perfectly safe” as long as motorists drive carefully and within speed limits.

The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $8 million for economic losses to the Miller family, which resides in La Costa, and medical costs. It also seeks more than $5 million in general damages for the pain and anguish suffered by the family.

And McClellan will also seek punitive damages in excess of $10 million from Ford, in part, because the manufacturer refused to issue a recall of the Escort model and repair its seat belts.

However, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co. on Friday said the Escort’s seat belts are functional and safe.

McClellan claims that a defective part of the rear seat belts in Escort models produced from 1984 to 1989 caused the fatality and other serious injuries.

Denied Defects in Belts

But John Jelinek, a Ford spokesman, denied that the Escort’s seat belts suffer from defects. He declined to discuss the lawsuit.

Besides targeting Ford, McClellan also blames the City of Carlsbad. He describes Rancho Santa Fe Road as dangerous and said more fatalities occurred on that street than any other in Carlsbad last year.

During 1988, five traffic fatalities occurred along Rancho Santa Fe Road--the highest recorded on any city street--confirmed Sgt. Howard Carpenter of the Carlsbad Police Department’s traffic detail. In those 12 months, 51 accidents occurred on the street, resulting in 48 injuries (including the fatalities). Those 51 accidents accounted for 5% of all accidents in the city.

Accidents Have Declined

As a result of increased police enforcement along Rancho Santa Fe Road, the number of accidents on the street has declined so far this year, Carpenter said.

Through May, there have only been 15 accidents on the road, resulting in one injury, Carpenter said. There have been no fatalities, he added.

“That road is perfectly safe if it is driven lawfully and if you pay any attention to what you’re doing,” said Carlsbad City Atty. Vince Biondo. “If you don’t watch what you’re doing and you drive too fast, accidents can happen on any street.

Although the city is in the midst of making improvements to Rancho Santa Fe Road, Biondo said such actions alone will not prevent fatalities.

“The city is doing everything possible to improve the situation, but that doesn’t mean it will become ideal,” Biondo said. “People have to realize it is a two-lane rural road. It is not a highway.”