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Injured Car Passenger Gets $1.6 Million due to 'Optical Illusion'

By Bruce Carton

When can a passenger in a car with a driver who fails to observe a left-hand curve in a road and instead continues straight and plunges over an 8-foot embankment into a ditch recover from the county for her significant injuries caused by the crash? When modifications to the road create an "optical illusion" that the road continues straight. Via Law and Magic I found this post on Deceptology discussing the case of Gunderson v. County of San Diego, in which the injured passenger received a $1.6 million settlement from the county, as well as the county's agreement to make extensive changes to the road to help keep future motorists from driving off the embankment. According to plaintiff's counsel Richard Huver and Karin Wick, Mussey Grade Road in Ramona, Calif., was originally constructed to "continue straight, intersecting with State Route 67. However, the road was re-aligned in 1992 to create a left-hand curve." The plaintiff argued that these modifications created an optical illusion because "drivers approaching the curve at night see a traffic signal, flashing yellow lights, as well as headlights in the distance, giving the impression that the road continues straight." The plaintiff also showed that there had been...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on March 08, 2011 (boomark / email).