Two years have passed since 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was “fatally struck by a taxicab near Dockweiler State Beach” while “crossing Vista Del Mar with her friends,” but now her family has been granted some closure. Just last Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the teenager’s parents, Stacey Larsen and Steven Potovsky, who “argued that the death of their daughter was a “foreseeable tragedy” because the city had failed to ensure safe ways for pedestrians to cross from the beach to their parked vehicles on the street.” According to the lawsuit, the highway was “hazardous to pedestrians, but the city did nothing to fix the problem.”
Two years have passed since 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was “fatally struck by a taxicab near Dockweiler State Beach” while “crossing Vista Del Mar with her friends,” but now her family has been granted some closure. Just last Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the teenager’s parents, Stacey Larsen and Steven Potovsky, who “argued that the death of their daughter was a “foreseeable tragedy” because the city had failed to ensure safe ways for pedestrians to cross from the beach to their parked vehicles on the street.” According to the lawsuit, the highway was “hazardous to pedestrians, but the city did nothing to fix the problem.”
For council members and city lawyers, a settlement seemed unavoidable, given the fact that Los Angeles had a history of failing to “protect beachgoers despite repeated collisions in the area.” For example, according to a report drawn up by city lawyers for the council members, “there are no crosswalks on Vista Del Mar for roughly two miles between Imperial Highway and Napoleon Street.” This creates a hazardous environment for pedestrians that sometimes results in tragedy, like what happened to Naomi Larsen.
While Naomi’s parents are pleased the lawsuit is resolved, attorney William Paoli, who represented the family, said “it’s troubling that it took the city so long to prioritize the handling of these dangerous conditions. We felt that this was something that should have been corrected well before Naomi was ever put in that position.”
Fortunately, the settlement was approved swiftly with a vote of 12-0. As for any safeguards the city has implemented for pedestrians, well, Paoli said they’ve put up temporary “No Parking” signs “so that beachgoers” won’t “be crossing Vista Del Mar to reach their cars.”
So far the city attorney’s office has declined to comment regarding Wednesday’s settlement.
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