2 Claims Filed in Traffic Death on Simi Road

The parents of a 19-year-old Simi Valley woman who died in an automobile accident last year have filed $1-million claims against Ventura County and the city of Simi Valley, alleging that the accident was partly caused by a poorly designed roadway with limited visibility.

Michelle Glassman died in September, 1989, from injuries that she suffered when a car driven by Jodi Anne Maas, 25, struck her moped from behind.

Maas pleaded no contest in November, 1989, to one count of vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced in Ventura County Municipal Court to three years probation and was ordered to pay restitution. Court officials declined to release the amount of restitution.

According to the claims filed two weeks ago, the accident on Royal Avenue near Erringer Road in Simi Valley was “caused, in whole or part, by a dangerous condition of public property.”

Since September, two people--a 52-year-old man and an 8-year-old girl--have been killed by motorists on Royal near the site of the Glassman accident.

In September, Vanessa Dezubiria, 8, was killed by a car as she rode her bicycle across Royal Avenue at Carson Street. In November, Juan Jimenez Larios, 52, died after he was hit by a car while trying to cross Royal at Thompson Lane, about half a block from Carson.

At the intersection of Royal and Erringer, about 100 yards away, Simi Valley police have reported 46 traffic accidents since January, 1987. Royal Avenue was built more than 20 years ago by the county and has been widened and improved in several areas by the city, Simi Valley officials said.

Simi Valley Police Lt. Jon Ainsworth said the Glassman accident and the others were unrelated.

“That fatality had nothing to do with that intersection,” he said. “The area where the accident occurred does bend, but it’s perfectly clear. There is no visual obstruction.”

Glassman, who was riding her moped without a helmet, had stopped on Royal about 360 feet west of Erringer to make a left turn into a driveway when Maas slammed into her from behind. Glassman died four days later of severe head injuries.

John Malmo, an attorney representing Glassman’s parents, Allan and Dorothy Glassman, declined to comment on the claim. “Our policy is not to speak to the press until the matter is concluded in the courts,” he said.

A claim is legally required before a lawsuit can be filed against a public agency, such as the county or the city of Simi Valley.

The claim does not describe the conditions that allegedly contributed to the accident. However, the claim said the accident was partly caused by “the inability of Jodi Maas to see Ms. Glassman prior to the collision.”

According to a court document that was filed during Maas’ sentencing, “there have been so many accidents (that) the residents have filed petitions and stock blankets and bandages to care for the casualties.”

Robi Klein, a spokesman for the county’s Risk Management Department, said the claim is being reviewed. He declined to comment.

Ainsworth said most of the accidents at the intersection of Royal and Erringer occurred when motorists misjudged the speed of oncoming cars while trying to make left turns from Royal to Erringer.

The court document, which was filed by a probation officer and is considered by the judge before a sentencing, said that the brakes on Maas’ car were in good condition and that Maas had not been drinking at the time of the accident.

“The defendant stated she just didn’t see Michelle until it was too late,” according to the report. “She is so sorry, she’d do anything to change things.”

According to the report, Maas’ insurance company had offered to pay Dorothy Glassman a $55,000 settlement, but Glassman refused the money.