NOVATO, Calif. -- The family of a Novato girl who was killed by a vehicle while riding her bicycle two years ago has settled a suit against the City of Novato and the driver for $1.12 million, the family's attorney said.
Tait North America, the employer of the driver who struck 12-year-old Hailey Ratliff on Sept. 27, 2012, and another defendant will pay $800,000, and the City of Novato will pay $320,000, San Francisco attorney Paul Matiasic said.
The City of Novato said Monday all but $30,000 of the $320,000 will be paid by insurance, and the city has not assumed any liability.
The Ratliff family claimed the driver, Samuel Lee Boulware Jr. of Houston, Texas, was recklessly speeding and inattentive when his rented GMC Yukon collided with Hailey on Novato Boulevard as she rode home from school, Matiasic said.
The wrongful death lawsuit claimed the City failed to trim overgrown roadside vegetation that obscured a pedestrian crossing and speed
limit signs in the area.
The evidence uncovered in the lawsuit revealed Boulware was driving in excess of 65 mph despite the 45 mph speed limit in Novato city limits, Matiasic said. The speed limit decreases to 25 mph, just east of the accident site, when children are present, Matiasic said.
Novato police said Ratliff failed to yield the right-of-way to the eastbound GMC Yukon. Police said their conclusion was based on witnesses' interviews, skid analysis, toxicology tests and advanced accident reconstruction tests.
Matiasic said residents in the area of the crash west of San Marin High School raised concerns before the collision about speeding motorists entering Novato from more rural stretches of the road west of city limits.
As part of the settlement, the City of Novato agreed to evaluate engineering and roadway conditions of that stretch of Novato Boulevard, Matiasic said.
The City of Novato said it "continues to maintain that circumstances other than the design and condition of the roadway in the area where Hailey was struck were the primary factors causing the accident."
The City said, however that continued defense costs at trial would exceed the $30,000 non-insured portion of the settlement, and to "bring a measure of closure for the Ratliff family, the parties felt the best course of action was to conclude the lawsuit with a settlement."
Hailey's parents, Charles and Angela Ratliff, said in a statement, "It is our hope that Novato's agreement to evaluate the engineering and roadway conditions will lead to a safer street for all of Novato's residents, particularly children, so that no family has to endure the lasting pain of losing a child."
"Traffic engineers in the case have opined that a speed limit reduction and installation of stop signs and/or crosswalk would exponentially increase safety at this location. It is time for the City to fix this problem," Matiasic said.