Negligence Lawsuit Begins Against State Of Hawaii For Serious Injuries Sustained In Rockslide
This past week a Hawaii negligence trial began against the State of Hawaii as the result of injuries sustained by a couple in a rockslide. Michael Patrick O’Grady and Leiloni O’Grady have sued the state seeking compensation for their medical expenses, lost wages and loss of future earnings after a 160-ton rockslide crushed their car and seriously injured both the O’Gradys.
The lawsuit is based on premises liability and alleges that the state knew of the dangerous condition – the high potential for a rock fall – but failed to take action to alleviate the problem. Personal injury actions based on dangerous conditions may arise where a property owner is aware, or should have been aware, of a dangerous condition on their property or premises and fail to either take steps to remove the danger or to provide adequate warning. In Hawaii, serious personal injury and wrongful death actions often occur on state property because of the topography of the state, which creates significant dangers. Where the state fails to take adequate precautions and provide sufficient warnings, it may be held responsible for injuries that occur. If you have been injured while on the property of another, whether a business, a homeowner, or a governmental body it may be possible to recover damages for the harm caused. A knowledgeable Hawaii personal injury attorney can help answer your personal injury questions and investigate your claim.
Here, the O’Gradys were on Highway 11 in Ka’u when an enormous boulder can rolling down the mountain and crushed the O’Gradys' car, landing on its roof and flipping it upside down.
Representatives of the family note that the area “constituted a high potential for rock fall” and the rockslide was a “totally foreseeable event.” Further, the way the highway was constructed left no room for the boulder to go in the event of a rock fall. The lawsuit is scheduled to last a week. Today nearly 300 “Class A” sites – those at high risk for rock falls – remain in Hawaii.
For more information or if you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a dangerous condition, please contact the knowledgeable Hawaii personal injury lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP dedicated to help those injured through the negligence of others.
