Freeway Crash : $15.2 Million Awarded in Accident That Paralyzed Man

A jury in Norwalk ordered Caltrans to pay half of a $15.2-million judgment the panel awarded Wednesday to a man and his wife after the man was left paralyzed by a truck accident on a sharply curving ramp between the Artesia and 605 freeways in Cerritos.

Attorney Neil Bahan, who represented the couple during the two-week trial in Norwalk Superior Court, told the jury that while the truck driver had been exceeding the posted speed on the transition road, the severity of the accident was caused by an unprotected abutment that jutted “like a tombstone” into the shoulder of the elevated ramp.

Bahan said that because of its speed, the truck’s trailer, laden with bottled salad dressing, tipped on the curve.

“The concrete bridge abutment sliced open the trailer like a can opener,” Bahan said. “There was a virtual explosion of 40,000 pounds of Miracle Whip.”

Driving Pickup

Bahan said his client--Jerry Kuhns, 32, of Downey--was driving his pickup on the 605 Freeway directly below the ramp when a pallet of the dressing fell onto his truck, crushing it.

Kuhns has been a quadriplegic since the accident on June 13, 1984.

The lawyer said the judgment is believed to be the biggest ever awarded against the California Department of Transportation in a vehicle accident case.

During the trial that began Aug. 1 in the court of Judge Gerold Krieger, Bahan argued that the design of the ramp was dangerous and that Caltrans knew how to correct the problem.

The lawyer said that for a mere $3,000, the agency could have extended the guardrail up to “smooth over” the sharp, leading edge of the abutment, but Caltrans chose not to do so.

Attorneys for Caltrans claimed that the design of the ramp should not be blamed for the accident.

Bahan said testimony showed that truck driver Robert Covell, who was hauling the load of salad dressing for an independent trucking firm, the El Bandido Co. of Buena Park, missed a shift as he was slowing for the transition ramp curve, which is posted at 30 m.p.h. and marked with a large sign depicting a truck tipping at excessive speed.

Because the truck slowed only to 42 m.p.h., the attorney said, “the trailer rolled over on its right side and the abutment sliced a 30-foot hole in it. . . .”

“The problem is still uncorrected,” he said.

After two days of deliberations, the jury awarded more than $13.2 million to Kuhns and more than $1.9 million to his wife.

The jury ordered Caltrans and the truck driver to share equally in paying the award.