Injured Cyclist Awarded $3.8 Million in a Negligence Case Against Driver, California Department of Transportation

Ronald Wilmot wasn’t exactly “scared” of the Arroyo Quemada Bridge. “But very aware,” he said. “That’s the word.”

Whenever the retired elementary school principal and his friends would cross the narrow stretch of Highway 101 on their regular bike rides between Santa Barbara and Gaviota, he said, “we would look in our mirrors to make sure an 18-wheeler wasn’t coming, wave our left arms, and ride like hell.”

On January 3, 2021, Wilmot ― the last in a line of four cyclists ― was hit from behind by a motorist who said she felt squeezed by another car and veered into their bike lane, which merges into the slow lane of traffic on the bridge and shrinks to a 12-inch shoulder. The driver said she never even saw the group.

Read the source article at Santa Barbara Independent