Our client was a successful corporate CFO who was training for the Death Ride by riding on Highway 4 near Markleeville, CA in the High Sierras. He was riding a smooth, newly resurfaced stretch of the highway when he unexpectedly hit a hole in the road intentionally placed by Caltrans to anchor a gate they used to close Ebbett’s Pass in the winter.
He fell hard, fracturing 14 ribs and suffering significant internal bleeding and a ruptured spleen. Caltrans filed a motion for summary judgment in an attempt to have the case dismissed before reaching a jury.
Caltrans based their motion on the primary assumption of the risk doctrine, essentially arguing that our client assumed the risk of hitting a hole in the road and falling when he chose to go on a long, challenging ride on a thin-tired road bicycle in mountains, arguing that therefore Caltrans should not be held responsible.
After taking 17 depositions and investing over $50,000 in expert consultation and declarations, The Zinn Law Firm defeated the motion. The Zinn firm defeated the motion by successfully arguing that, because Caltrans has a legal obligation to provide safe, well-maintained roadways to bicyclists, encountering dangerous holes in the roadway was not a risk road bicyclists assume when they ride.
Further, the Court agreed with plaintiff that by creating a hole in the road to anchor its winter gate, Caltrans added to the inherent risk already present in road bicycling and denied Caltrans’ motion. The case settled for $1,000,000 shortly thereafter. As a result of this case, the Zinn firm has become a leading firm in the state in defeating primary assumption of the risk defenses asserted by public entities when bicyclists are injured when they hit dangerous defects in the roadway surface.