The distraught parents of a freckle-faced 13-year-old girl who was killed by a Metro bus while riding her bicycle in Redondo Beach have sued the transit agency, the bus driver, Los Angeles County and Caltrans.
Barry and Rose Smith of Redondo Beach, whose daughter was struck by the bus about 5:30 p.m. May 5 in the area of Pacific Coast Highway and Knob Hill Avenue, are seeking unspecified damages.
Representatives for the various agencies could not be immediately reached for comment on the lawsuit filed Monday.
Ciara Smith, a student at Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach, was riding her bicycle alongside a friend when, for an unknown reason, she traveled into the roadway on Pacific Coast Highway and was struck by the bus, Redondo Beach police Lt. Shawn Freeman said previously.
The girl’s friend was not hurt, and Freeman said there was nothing to suggest the bus driver had done anything criminal.
But according to the lawsuit, Metro driver Francine Danyielle Murphy’s negligence caused her bus to collide with the bicyclist.
The suit also alleges that the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Knob Hill Avenue was designed in a way that made it dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians. The problems included faded painting on crosswalks, the dimensions of the ramps leading from sidewalks to the roadway and a lack of bicycle-only lanes, according to the suit, which says the allegedly dangerous conditions have existed for so long that Caltrans officials knew or should have known about them.
–City News Service