Personal Injury & Torts
May 31, 2001
DMV Held Liable in Officer's Death
SAN FRANCISCO - A unanimous jury in Stockton has hit the state with a $5.5 million verdict, saying the Department of Motor Vehicles failed to properly test an elderly driver after a Lodi police officer reported him as a potential danger.
Six months after officer Rick Cromwell warned the DMV that 85-year-old Jasper Laraway was a dangerous driver, Cromwell himself collided with Laraway while pursuing a speeding driver down a Lodi street. Cromwell was killed in the accident.
The ensuing wrongful death lawsuit marked the first time the DMV has been sued for failing to comply with a 1987 law requiring the agency to physically test the driving ability of any driver reported as unsafe, said Peter J. Hinton, a name partner at Walnut Creek's Hinton & Alfert who represented Cromwell's wife and two daughters.
"At some point some DMV bureaucrat said that, if the officer doesn't cite him, they don't have to give a drive test," Hinton said. "But the law says you have to give a test. ... You can't test a person's driving competence over the phone."
Hinton said the DMV has since corrected the problems, but the state has indicated it will appeal the verdict, which was delivered Friday. A spokesman for the state Attorney General said Tuesday that the office has not yet decided whether to appeal.
Cromwell first encountered Laraway in June 1998, when the retiree tried to make a left-hand turn across a lane of traffic, causing his Nissan Maxima to collide with another car. After investigating the accident, Cromwell found that Laraway was "very disoriented" and issued a notice to the DMV calling for a priority re-examination of the motorist.
According to Hinton, California Vehicle Code sections 12804 requires the DMV to re-test Laraway within five days of receiving such a notice or suspend his license. Instead, he said, the DMV waited more than five months before giving Laraway the option of taking an oral test, and allowed Laraway to keep his license after a 10-minute phone conversation.
Nine days after that conversation, Cromwell collided with Laraway. Cromwell was driving his police-issue Harley Davidson, his lights flashing as he pursued a speeding driver. Laraway pulled out of a nearby shopping mall into Cromwell's path. CHP officers investigating the accident determined that Laraway was at fault, and had failed to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic.
Cromwell's wife and two young daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that the state breached its duty to administer the test, leading to Cromwell's death. Cromwell v. State, CV008749. Laraway settled the case for $50,000, but the state defended itself in a three-week jury trial before San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Bobby W. McNatt.
Hinton said that his co-counsel, Joe Appel of Walnut Creek's Appel & Appel, was particularly effective in cross-examining the DMV employee who gave the oral test. "He was masterful," Hinton said. "He demonstrated what a totally inadequate job they were doing."
The jury deliberated for about seven hours before assigning 90 percent of the fault to the state and 10 percent to Laraway. A DMV spokesman declined to comment on the case Tuesday. A lawyer representing the DMV did not return phone messages Tuesday.
Tyler Cunningham
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com