Shoemaker Sues, Saying State to Blame for Crash

Bill Shoemaker, horse racing’s winningest jockey, is suing the State of California for $20 million, saying it was responsible for a car accident on April 8, 1991, in San Dimas that left him a quadriplegic from a severe spinal cord injury.

In the suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Shoemaker claims the state failed to install guard rails or a warning sign of a dangerous road condition that resulted in his car tumbling down a steep embankment.

At the time of the accident, tests showed that Shoemaker’s blood-alcohol level was 0.13, above the legal limit, but he was not charged with driving under the influence. State law considers a driver under the influence if the level is .08 or above.

“We know he was out drinking, and he drove off the road and apparently was not wearing a seat belt,” said Christopher Hiddleson, an attorney for the state. “This accident is a case of a driver who was intoxicated who wants taxpayers to pay him $20 million.”

Neil Papiano, Shoemaker’s attorney, says that Shoemaker could not have been drunk.

“Bill had spent the day playing in a golf tournament (at Sierra La Verne Country Club) and somebody got a hole in one, so he went into the bar and had two drinks. Somebody bought two rounds,” Papiano said. “Then Bill got in his car and left for home, and the accident occurred within 10 minutes. He didn’t stop any place.

“The test was skewed in some fashion. It could be because of his size or the proximity to the accident, in that he had the drinks minutes before his test.”

Shoemaker was traveling westbound on Highway 30 in San Dimas when his Ford Bronco II veered off the road to the right, hit a berm on the side of the road and rolled 50 feet down an embankment. The car rolled over several times and came to rest on its wheels in the fast lane of a transition road that leads to the southbound 210 Freeway.

The suit alleges that Highway 30 has a history of accidents similar to the one Shoemaker was involved in, and the state should have warned motorists by installing guard rails, safety devices or signs warning of the embankment that drops from westbound Highway 30 between San Dimas Avenue and Lone Hill Avenue to the transition road below.

Although Shoemaker’s blood-alcohol level indicated he was legally intoxicated, the district attorney did not press charges. Richard Jenkins of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in Pomona said at the time that the severity of the injuries and the fact that no one else was involved in the accident “supports the decision to decline to prosecute in the interest of justice.”

County prosecutors often do not file charges in such circumstances.

Shoemaker’s wife, Cindy, also is suing the state for $5 million for a loss of consortium (husband-wife relations).