Arizona Firefighter’s bicycle accident causes brain trauma and lawsuit
In 2006 Rene’ Lopez of Phoenix was biking to his job as a firefighter when his bicycle wheel got stuck in a 1 inch gap in an overpass causing him to be launched into a concrete barrier and sustaining brain trauma, a perforated ear canal, as well as shoulder, neck, back and knee injuries. He is holding the city of Tempe, Maricopa County, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the state of Arizona responsible by filing a lawsuit in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Only the city of Tempe has responded to the complaint and denies any responsibility for the accident and has asked the judge to dismiss the case. The city says that it had not heard any other complaints about the purported road defect. Currently, jurisdiction needs to be established before any one of the agencies is named in the lawsuit as the primary defendant, said the county attorney spokesman.
