Settlement Paid to Bike Crash Victim Seen as Extravagant Sum

It seems that the good people of Newport Beach have been hit with another payout for their “negligence” (“Newport, State to Pay $3.1 Million in Bike Crash Case,” Nov. 11).

As I read the story, the victim, who had minimal experience riding his bicycle, not wearing a helmet, rode down Backbay Drive from Eastbluff, hit a puddle and crashed. The city’s and state’s “negligence” consisted of not posting a sign saying that the hill was steep and (allowing) a puddle of water to be at the bottom of the hill.

While we all feel sympathy for the victim, this is an especially unfair burden on citizens in these times. Since I retired, I ride that path three times during a normal week. The hill is steep (I let my bike run free today and reached 28 m.p.h.), but it is obviously steep and to display a sign saying so is repeating a self-evident fact.

Any puddle (and they occur during a rain) is visible from above and should certainly be avoided. Is there a street anywhere that doesn’t have puddles after a rain? To lay the blame on the citizens of Newport Beach for such an accident and charge them such a sum is ludicrous.

Being a veteran of the Big One, this seems especially sad to me when I think of the number of men and women who were disabled in our wars and received only a small fraction of that amount.

Perhaps the underlying cause of my concern is the “someone-else-is-to-blame-and-must-pay” philosophy. Having participated in several risky activities during my life in which I took full responsibility for my actions, I find the trend discouraging, to say the least.

M. EDWIN WHEELOCK

Irvine