Family of Injured Woman Settles Torrance Suit

The city of Torrance has agreed to pay a $6,000 settlement in a lawsuit brought by the parents of a young woman who was seriously injured in a 1988 traffic accident.

The woman, Margaret Parkinson, was 24 when she was struck by a drunk driver in early morning fog as she and a friend unloaded a bicycle from a double-parked car on Redondo Beach Boulevard. She lost her lower right leg, her brain was injured and she nearly bled to death. Now 26, she is in a Bay Area rehabilitation center, said her father, Lucius Parkinson.

“Her life is ruined. She really hasn’t got a lot to look forward to,” Lucius Parkinson said. Her medical bills already have topped $600,000, he said.

Parkinson’s family initially sought at least $6 million in damages. The family filed a lawsuit listing as defendants the city of Torrance and a Torrance police officer who was at the scene, as well as Los Angeles County, the driver of the car that struck her and the car’s owner.

The suit alleged that city trees along the boulevard had not been trimmed, blocking light from overhead street lamps.

It also alleged that Torrance Police Officer Devin Chase drove past Parkinson before the crash but failed to warn her of the danger of standing behind a double-parked car in the fog. Chase made a U-turn to go back to warn her, but did not reach her before the collision. He and a colleague were praised for coming to her aid with a makeshift tourniquet.

Attorney William O. Dougherty of San Diego, representing Parkinson, filed papers Jan. 9 dismissing the claim against Chase.

The settlement with the city was negotiated within the last few months, said Ronald Pohl, assistant city attorney. It still needs court approval.

Dougherty called the probability “slim to remote” that the Parkinsons could win a lawsuit against the city or Chase.

His clients are not vindictive people, he added. “They don’t want to relive this nightmare again.”

Pohl agreed it was unlikely the city would be found liable, but added, “If we were found liable, it would be very, very expensive.”

Dougherty said he could not discuss the status of other defendants in the case. But in a letter to the court filed Feb. 26, Dougherty said that dismissals in the case were expected to be filed in the next 60 days. And a lawyer representing Los Angeles County, James Galloway, said he has heard the Parkinsons plan to drop the case against the county.