 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Siders v. Reynoldsburg School Dist.12/13/1994
DESHLER, Judge.
This is an appeal by plaintiffs, Lee Eric Siders and Crystal Root, from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, following a jury trial in which the jury returned verdicts finding defendant, Reynoldsburg School District, fifty-one percent negligent, and plaintiff Siders forty-nine percent negligent, for injuries sustained by Siders when the bicycle he was riding was involved in a collision with a Reynoldsburg city school bus.
The accident occurred on April 21, 1991. Siders was thirteen years of age at the time. On that date, the driver of the school bus, Mary Morris, was operating a bus northbound on Lancaster Avenue at approximately 3:45 p.m. Siders was also travelling northbound on Lancaster Avenue, ahead of the bus.
Morris testified that she was driving at the posted speed limit of thirty-five m.p.h. Morris first observed Siders riding his bicycle near Sabre Avenue. According to Morris, Siders was "riding his bicycle along the right side of thsroad" about "a block or so" in front of the bus. Morris approached to within fifteen or twenty feet of the rider before she attempted to pass him. As Morris was approaching Siders, she slowed down to let a car in the southbound lane go by the bus "so there would be no problem in my passing him." After the southbound car passed, Morris attempted to pass Siders. Morris noted that the tire of the bus may have touched the double yellow line of the road, but the tire did not go over the line. Although Morris stated that she was looking for Siders in the bus mirrors as she was passing, she did not see the impact. She heard, however, the impact of the bus with the bicycle. The portion of the bus which collided with the bicycle was "right behind the front wheel."
Glenna Stemen, a teacher with the Reynoldsburg city schools, was called as a witness by plaintiffs. Stemen was driving northbound on Lancaster Avenue at the time of the accident, approximately fifty yards behind the bus. According to Stemen, Siders was proceeding north, pedalling in a fast manner, "in the lane * * * three feet from the side of the road."
Stemen observed the bus move to the left. As the bus was moving to the left, there were vehicles travelling southbound in the opposite direction on Lancaster Avenue. It appeared to Stemen that the bicycle was "beside the bus." Stemen did not observe the bus move back to the right prior to impact. She thought that the impact of the bus and the bicycle occurred along the back right side of the bus. Upon impact, the bicycle and rider fell away from the bus.
Patricia Knight was also called as a witness by plaintiffs. At the time of the incident, Knight was travelling south on Lancaster Avenue when she first observed a bicyclist "on the right side of the lane, heading north." According to Knight, the bicyclist came out onto the road from a driveway. She also observed the school bus travelling in the northbound lane. Knight indicated that the bicyclist "looked over his left shoulder and saw the bus coming, looked like he was trying to beat it." As Knight approached the bicycle and bus, she did not see the bus go onto or over the double yellow lines. Knight's vehicle passed the bus and bicycle just as the bus was attempting to pass the bicycle in the opposite direction. Knight looked in her rear-view mirror and noticed that the bus had stopped. Knight testified that during the entire time that she saw the bicyclist proceeding northbound, he was on the roadway.
William Miller, a paramedic with the Truro Township Fire Department, testified that he was dispatched to the accident scene shortly after the incident. When he arrived at th
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|