SAN DIEGO — The city of San Diego is set to pay $7 million to the family of a cyclist who was severely injured while riding in a shared bike lane in Old Town.
Marc Woolf was riding his bike home from his job at the San Diego Zoo when a car backed into the road on Congress Street in Old Town. Woolf hit the car and was thrown from his bike into oncoming traffic where he was struck by a second car.
According to a 2022 civil lawsuit, Woolf was paralyzed from the neck down from the crash. He later died.
Both drivers involved were driving within the speed limit, the complaint states. What lead to the crash was "dangerous road conditions," including:
- Restricted site lines and distances caused by physical conditions
- Insufficient red curb prohibiting parked cars
- Overgrown vegetation
- Confusing and misleading shared lane striping
- An improperly maintained light fixture which was not functioning on the night of the incident
The malfunctioning street light, in addition to the myriad alleged shortcomings, contributed to the car and Woolf "not being able to view each other until it was too late," according to the complaint.
The San Diego City Attorney's Office did not respond to our request for comment.
Cases like Woolf's aren't uncommon in San Diego. Earlier this year, the city agreed to pay nearly $3 million to the family of a man who died after he hit a city truck parked in the bike lane. In 2017, a San Diego cyclist received a $4.8 million settlement after falling on an uneven sidewalk in the Del Cerro neighborhood and suffering serious head and spinal injuries.
Dangerous road conditions also paved the way for a cyclist to receive an unprecedented $23.75 million payout after a DUI crash on Fiesta Island left a man paralyzed. He said the city failed to make the road safe for cyclists.
The city council is expected to finalize the settlement agreement at an October 1 meeting.