875000 settlement in death of bicyclist
Arlene “Kay” Marshall was a well-known and well-liked resident of St. Charles, Illinois. Kay was a familiar figure, often seen riding her bicycle as she made her way around town.
On August 6, 2010, Kay left her home at Carroll Towers in St. Charles and approached the intersection of West Main Street (Route 64) and North 2nd Street (Route 31). Kay walked her bicycle southbound on the east side of 2nd Street. As she waited to cross southbound across Main Street, a heavy truck approached the same intersection traveling westbound on Main Street.
What happened next was observed by at least four independent witnesses and was captured on the RedFlex video camera that is set to capture northbound traffic on 2nd Street.
According to witnesses and the video, the truck began making a rolling right turn, turning against a red light. The truck began to turn at the same time Kay began to enter the roadway. Kay’s bike was clipped by the truck and became stuck on the mud flap. As the truck pulled away, Kay was pulled underneath, and died after being dragged for several hundred feet.
Kay’s death was a tragedy, and affected her large extended family and her many friends and neighbors. She was 68-years-old at the time of her death, and left three brothers, John, Bill, and Roger, and her family was, and still is, extremely close. Kay was a selfless individual who spent a majority of her life caring for others. She worked as a teacher’s aide until her retirement in 2006. Kay cared for her elderly parents until her mother’s death in March 2008 and her father’s death in April 2009.
As her brothers describe it, after their parent’s death, Kay began a new life filled with more social activities and friends. She enjoyed trips to Chicago with friends to explore museums and attend shows. Unfortunately, her new found enjoyment of life was cut short.
Kay had always enjoyed an extremely close relationship with her family. And after her parents’ deaths, her brothers describe their relationship as becoming even stronger. John, Bill, and Roger said Kay became the matriarch of the family. She was the center of all family activities and nothing brought her more pleasure than being a sister, aunt, and great aunt. Kay’s death has had a dramatic impact on each of her brother’s lives. Their grief, sorrow, and mental suffering has been and continues to be significant and, at times, unbearable.
On behalf of Kay’s survivors, attorneys Brian Perkins and Peter Flowers conducted an independent investigation that included extensive and in-depth interviews with four individuals who witnessed the tragedy and videos from the intersection showed the incident in graphic detail. They successfully refuted the defense of contributory negligence on the part of Kay, and through a pathologist report established the pain and suffering she endured in the last moments of her life. Their efforts resulted in the case being settled for $875,000, very near the $1 million policy limit.