August 20, 2007
August Muni Payout: $131,695.06
Since February, that's $670,381.39. It's been a busy month for lawyers: Muni's conceding $131,695.06 (about the cost of a bribe to Ted Stevens, or one foot of collapsed-bridge repairs, or a single union employee, or an English teacher in Seoul, or your very own hair salon) in settlements for August in nine separate cases.
The biggest payout is $47,500 to a guy who broke his ankle when the bus lurched forward before he could sit. Ouch. The driver in question was Daniel Johnson, driver number 1324. Hey, sifting through these lawsuits is a good way to correlate driver numbers to driver names -- not that you'd ever have a reason to do that, Mr. Noyes.
Other claims paid off: $18,000 to a person named "Tokie" who was hit by a vehicle; $15,000 for another sudden acceleration injury; $15,000 to a blind woman who fell onto the tracks due to Muni's lack of navigational aids (not the first time that's happened). It was at this point in our research that the SF Superior Court site TCP-errored and refused to load any more cases. Stupid website. Oh well, at least it's one branch of city government that isn't killing and maiming people.
YET.
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That is the most perfect name for my indie pornstar alias: Daniel Johnson.
i guess we now know what they do when they leave those buses running for 20 minutes in the middle of the street
;)
San Francisco Superior Court is actually a branch of state government not city (or county) government. Rest assured, all branches of city government are in fact still killing and maiming people.
I hit my head on one of the hand bars a few days ago. I guess I missed out on the Muni cash cow. Next time I hit my head, I'm calling my lawyer!
I wonder if I could be solely responsible for Muni having to increase their fares because of a personal injury lawsuit?
Just in case anyone's wondering, I am not the MUNI driver in question. And a pornstar alias? Ouch.
They ought to print on the fast pass, like on the burning man ticket, YOU VOLUNTARILY ASSUME THE RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH BY RIDING. Would save a few bucks in settlements.
Great idea, guest [6]! People PAY for that kind of lurching at the county fair.
#6, they should put that on all car dashboards as well!