City Ordered to Pay Victims of Accident $16 Million

The city must pay more than $16 million to five victims of an auto accident that occurred when two drivers strayed across a poorly defined center line on Alameda Street in the Wilmington area and their vehicles collided head-on, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury decided Wednesday.

Richard Koskoff, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the jury concluded that although the driver of one of the vehicles was legally drunk, the city was 35% responsible for the accident because of dangerous road conditions. The drunk driver, Raymond Basted, was considered 65% responsible.

The jury found that the five victims had suffered about $10 million in economic damage and an additional $18 million in noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, Koskoff said.

He said that under California law, each defendant is jointly and separately liable. With Basted unable to pay, the city ends up responsible for the full $10 million in economic damages plus 35% of the $18 million in noneconomic damages, Koskoff said.

The accident occurred about 8 p.m. on Jan. 21, 1991.

Koskoff said a van carrying his five clients and five other people was traveling south on Alameda when it strayed slightly across the barely visible center line, colliding head-on with a northbound auto driven by Basted that had wandered several feet across the center line.

One occupant of the van was killed and the nine others were injured, most of them very seriously. Koskoff said that one of his clients, Michelle Birbragher, was left a quadriplegic by the accident and another, Isabel Alvarez, remains a paraplegic. His other clients--Elsa Mote, Christina Mota and Salvador Elizarraz--suffered less severe injuries.

Basted suffered leg and hip fractures and internal injuries. There were no passengers in his car.

Basted--who was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.13%, well over the legal limit--was later convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, Koskoff said. Basted is now incarcerated at Vacaville State Prison.

In his lawsuit against the city, Koskoff contended that the city shared responsibility for the accident because it had failed to maintain a yellow center divider line that could be seen clearly at night. He said plastic strips used to mark the center line failed to reflect the light from vehicular headlamps because the strips had been worn away by heavy traffic.

He said that at one point, the city attorney’s office recommended that the city offer a settlement of $7 million, but the City Council rejected the recommendation.