Two women left permanently disabled after being struck by a car while jogging along Pacific Coast Highway reached a $49-million settlement Tuesday with the city of Dana Point.
The lawsuit brought by Carol Daniel, 42, and Stacy Neria, 35, both mothers of three who live in San Clemente, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday. Instead, it ended with one of the largest settlements in Orange County history.
The women were hit April 8, 2006, by William Todd Bradshaw, who fled the scene. Bradshaw, who had three previous drunk driving convictions, was arrested several days later, convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.
Daniel and Neria were jogging with two other women in the bicycle lane on the northbound side of PCH when they were struck.
Daniel was thrown about 60 feet, breaking her neck and pelvis and nearly severing one of her legs. Neria suffered a fractured skull, broken legs and a broken pelvis, nose and cheek. Both women are now quadriplegics. The other two women were not injured.
"It's a bittersweet result for both women and their families," said Daniel J. Callahan, the women's attorney. "They're pleased that they're going to have the ability to take care of themselves into the future. But their lives were forever changed."
The lawsuit alleged that the road was unsafe because the bike lane was too wide -- possibly causing drivers to mistake it for another lane -- and improperly marked. The city has since added concrete barriers protecting joggers and bicyclists.
The city's insurer, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, oversaw the settlement discussions, Dana Point officials said. The settlement will be paid in a lump sum from four policies, Callahan said.
Mark P. Robinson Jr., a prominent tort lawyer in Orange County, said there have been many personal injury cases settled in the $20-million range in recent years. "It certainly ranks as one of the top settlements in the county," he said.
Robinson is perhaps best known for helping to win a $127-million verdict for a boy badly burned when the gas tank of the Ford Pinto he was riding in exploded in 1978.
In Orange County, the biggest single settlement is probably the $420 million that Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to pay in 1998 for its role in the county's 1994 bankruptcy.
According to Dana Point officials, the settlement was $49 million. Callahan said the figure was closer to $50 million.
