Lawsuit Filed Against Thurston County After Crosswalk Accident

Thurston County Sued After Crosswalk Malfunction Causes Serious Accident

Posted on Mar 03, 2020

Lawsuit Filed: Dangerous Crosswalk On Yelm Highway – Two Pedestrian Accidents Just 20 Days Apart

Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers has filed a civil lawsuit against Thurston County on behalf of a pedestrian who was severely injured in an Olympia-area crosswalk that had a malfunctioning cross signal.

On February 20th, 2019, Jordan Radcliffe of Spanaway had parked his vehicle in the employee parking lot near Setina Manufacturing and was headed to his temporary job across the street. He pushed the ‘push-to-walk button’ at the marked crosswalk on the eastbound lane side of the intersection at Yelm Highway SE and Rich Road SE in Thurston County. When the light signaled that it was safe, he proceeded northbound across Yelm Highway SE from Rich Road SE in the pedestrian crosswalk.

Yelm Highway SE and Rich Road SE, is a high volume, multi-lane arterial. However at the time of the subject incident, the flashing lights intended to warn motorists of crossing pedestrians at the intersection of Yelm Highway SE and Rich Road SE were not functioning for eastbound drivers on Yelm Highway SE—only westbound drivers saw the warning lights.

As he was crossing the street in the marked crosswalk at about 7:00am, Radcliffe was struck by a 2002 Dodge F1400 pickup truck driven by Antonio Uribe (Collision Report #E895701). The force of the impact knocked Radcliffe out of his shoes (see accident scene photos). He was taken to St. Peter’s Medical Center where he was treated for serious injuries.

20 Days Later: Same Crosswalk, Another Accident

Thurston County has a duty of care concerning the construction, design, maintenance, and operation of their public streets and traffic signals, including crosswalk signals, and to keep them in a reasonably safe condition for the public. Thurston County failed to take the necessary and proper corrective actions to make the crosswalk and/or crossing area safe for ordinary travel by pedestrians and operators of motor vehicles.

Numerous complaints about the malfunctioning lights had been reported to the county prior to the accident. Radcliff’s employer had filed complaints with the city/county. There were several pedestrian accidents in the area over the past few years. Just 20 days (3/12/2019 11:13am) following the Radcliff collision, a seventeen year old boy was struck in the exact same location (Collision Report #E902192).

Radcliff v. Thurston County & Uribe, et al

DLG Case Number: 202269
Court Case Number: 20-2-00876-34
Lawsuit Filed: 02/25/2020
Case Title: Radcliff v. Thurston County & Uribe, et al
Court: Thurston County Superior Court
Plaintiff: JORDAN J. RADCLIFFE
Defendant: THURSTON COUNTY, ANTONIO V. URIBE