The City Attorney on Road Safety

As Los Angeles city attorney, I fully support the general premise of your March 3 editorial headlined “Paying Dearly for Inaction.” Certain roadways in the city, such as La Tuna Canyon Road, should be made safer, and there is no doubt that a history of litigation involving dangerous conditions along such roadways should be a catalyst for getting repairs done.

I was surprised, however, to read in your editorial a paragraph stating that “no official mechanism exists” to correct roadway deficiencies discovered during litigation against the city and that after settling a lawsuit, my office “rarely follows up” with the city department involved. That is simply untrue and I was disturbed by the fact that the author of that paragraph did not bother contacting my office to ask what our policies and practices are before writing it.

In the matters involving La Tuna Canyon Road and in every instance in which a claim is made against the city that involves an alleged dangerous condition of a public street, a copy of the entire claim is forwarded by my office to the city department involved. This ensures that the department having the ability to fix a problem is put on notice of every alleged situation that may be in need of remedy. In addition, when and if a claim proceeds to an actual lawsuit, my attorneys deal directly with representatives of the department involved throughout the course of the litigation. Lastly, and most important, when a case is ultimately settled or a judgment is rendered in a matter for a substantial amount, a full report of the facts surrounding the case is submitted to the City Council and copies are sent directly to the managers of all departments involved.

In each of the three lawsuits involving traffic accidents on La Tuna Canyon Road that were described in your editorial, this procedure was followed. Full and complete council reports were authored and distributed on each of three occasions that described the nature of the dangerous condition needing repair and the accident history along the roadway. Indeed, most of the facts in your editorial about the accidents and conditions along La Tuna Canyon Road were gleaned directly from reports that were generated by my office and sent to the City Council and the managers of the departments responsible for fixing the problem. My office can only make affected departments aware of the problems. The responsibility for correcting them is up to the departments, who have to answer to the mayor and the City Council.

JAMES K. HAHN

Hahn is Los Angeles city attorney