Lawsuit Filed in I-5 Death of Immigrant

The family of a Mexican man who was killed while trying to cross an interstate highway has filed a lawsuit against the driver and the owner of a car that struck him.

Primitivo Cuevas, an undocumented worker and 51-year-old father of 13, was killed April 29, 1990, while trying to cross Interstate 5 south of the San Onofre Border Patrol checkpoint.

His family is suing the driver, Trang Thuy Nyguyen-Trau, and the car’s owner, Nguyentron Duynghia for unspecified damages. Both women are from San Diego.

Attorney Steven Kellman, who represents the family in the wrongful-death lawsuit, said Cuevas was in a car, headed to Santa Barbara to visit a son and daughter, when he suddenly asked the driver to stop.

He got out and tried to run across to the southbound lanes to avoid the Border Patrol and was hit by at least one vehicle at 12:31 a.m. He died at the scene.

Kellman does not deny that Cuevas bears some responsibility for his actions. But he said he believes the driver had an equal responsibility to slow down upon seeing a caution sign with flashing amber lights that warns motorists that pedestrians could be crossing the road.

“The law allows for two people to share responsibility for a loss,” he said.

Attorney Robert Buckley, representing the defendants, said his clients were not responsible for Cuevas’ death. The driver was not cited in the accident. In a court document, Buckley stated that Cuevas caused his own demise by “willful misconduct and wanton and reckless behavior” in crossing the busy freeway in the early-morning darkness.

Both attorneys agree that several vehicles may have hit Cuevas. But Kellman insists that Nyguyen-Trau’s car was the first. Buckley said Cuevas might have been hit first by another vehicle, perhaps a motorcycle.

Buckley said that Nyguyen-Trau was merely the only driver to stop.