SOUNDING OFF:

Two accidents have occurred so far at Bushard and Banning streets, killing one teenager and injuring six others. Well, you have to ask yourself if this is a dangerous intersection and if the city could be held liable for these accidents.

I have been a personal injury attorney serving Orange County for about 30 years, and this issue naturally piqued my interest so I visited the intersection.

What I instantly noticed was that when approaching the intersection from the north, there are no setbacks that accentuate the presence of an intersection and the stop sign is obscured by a row of power poles.

What makes this intersection deadly is that drivers approaching from the west who stop at the stop sign cannot see a vehicle approaching from the north until it is too late to avoid being slammed into.

That’s exactly what happened in the two most recent accidents at this intersection according to the news reports and the school crossing guard on duty at the intersection the day I visited it.

So, can the city of Huntington Beach be held responsible for the death and injuries in these two accidents?

Under the provisions of California’s Government Code section 835, a public entity is liable for the damages of a person injured because of a condition of public property when the injured person proves there was a dangerous condition on the public property at the time of injury, that the injury was caused by the dangerous condition, which created a “reasonably foreseeable risk of injury” and the public entity had sufficient notice and time to rectify the dangerous condition.

Based on the law, I’d say that the city could be held partially at fault for future accidents at this intersection.

It’s time that city officials seek out a solution to make this dangerous intersection safer. They could install a flashing red light at the stop sign or move the fence at the northwest corner to enhance visibility.

Huntington Beach needs to act soon to correct this dangerous situation, prevent more tragedies and reduce its liability risks.

JOHN BISNAR is a partner in the Newport Beach personal injury law firm of Bisnar Chase.