Hoffman family plans to sue for safer roads for cyclists
Daniel F. Hunt
Issue date: 11/2/01 Section: News
Media Credit: Daniel F. Hunt / The Rip |
That's why he and his sister, Kirsten Hoffman, plan to file a lawsuit against the city of Bakersfield in the alleged wrongful death of their father, Bakersfield College health professor Norm Hoffman.
"We want to find out if the city was negligent," he said. "My pops would have wanted us to check it out for him."
The family's claim against the city, which was rejected, states that the city and county failed to take adequate precautions to safeguard users of Fairfax Road — cars as well as bicyclists — or to warn the public of the potential hazards.
The claim, which is the first step in a lawsuit, was filed on Sept. 11.
Norm Hoffman, longtime Bakersfield College professor and bicycling champion, was killed on Fairfax Road last spring. Grant Hoffman said that the reason for the suit was because the road is used as a way for people to exercise and that if it was safe, his father's death could have been prevented.
"The road is a great workout road and people like to use it all the time," he said. "I used to rollerblade down it. But accidents do happen."
But the Bakersfield attorney for the Hoffman family, Daniel Rodriguez, said that the local agencies in charge of keeping roadways safe failed to do anything until someone was hurt.
He said steps should have been taken to prevent Hoffman's death.
"They recognized the need, they had it in the works," he said. "They never got around to doing it. It's a sad commentary. Typically the government doesn't do anything until something happens. So is it just a coincidence that within three weeks of Norm Hoffman's death that they were out there doing it? ... It took somebody's death to put them into action."
Rodriguez said that the family filed the claim because Hoffman's death was the direct result of the agencies' negligence.
Hoffman was killed March 14 when he was struck from behind while biking by Nicholas Garcia on the southbound side of Fairfax Road. As Hoffman was biking, Garcia lost control of his car, falling on to a lowered shoulder and overcorrected. As Garcia tried to swerve back onto the southbound lane, he hit Hoffman, killing him instantly.