SIMI VALLEY : Teenager Sues City in Father’s Traffic Death

A Simi Valley teenager whose father was hit and killed by cars while crossing a street at night has sued the city, alleging that Simi Valley failed to install proper street lights, warning signs and road markings.

Danny George Chamlee, 46, walked out of the Simi Covenant Church and across Alamo Street near El Paso Avenue on Jan. 13 about 7 p.m., according to the lawsuit filed recently by his son, 16-year-old Joseph Chamlee.

He stepped off the south curb and almost had made it to the north curb along Alamo when he was hit by two vehicles. The drivers did not see Danny Chamlee, in part because of poor lighting and a lack of signs warning that people were walking nearby, according to the lawsuit filed in Ventura County Superior Court.

The suit also seeks damages from the two drivers, and from the parents of one of the motorists, because she was only 16 at the time, said James Studer, Joseph Chamlee’s attorney.

Studer conceded Wednesday that Danny Chamlee might have violated traffic laws by crossing the street where there was no crosswalk. But Studer argued that the drivers were inattentive, and that the city was negligent for not having installed brighter street lights, better road markings and signs warning of pedestrians.

City Atty. John Torrance said, “We deny the allegations and we’ll be defending the action.