CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Transit Authority will pay a $3 million settlement to a man whose leg had to be amputated after he was hit by a turning bus.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports a Cook County judge approved the settlement Wednesday between the CTA and 80-year-old Raymond Baroud of Chicago, who was struck by the bus on the city’s west side in November 2018.
Baroud was not in the crosswalk when he was hit, and the CTA argued he was in the driver’s blind spot. Baroud’s attorneys argued he was clearly visible in the daylight, and said surveillance video showed that the driver should have seen him.
“Our client can no longer live independently as a result of the CTA bus driver’s negligence,” Baroud’s attorney, Tim Cavanagh, said. He said Baroud was in a coma for days after he was hit, and had his leg amputated above the knee. He now lives in an assisted-living facility.
The CTA said in an emailed statement that the case was mediated between the parties and “a mutually agreeable settlement of $3 million was reached, given the serious nature of the injury involved.” A spokesperson said the driver still works for the CTA but is no longer working as a driver.
Records reviewed by the Sun-Times show the CTA paid out more than $16 million in settlements and legal expenses In 2015 and 2016. During that same period CTA buses were involved in more than 500 crashes, with injuries reported by about 550 bus riders, 250 bus drivers, 200 other drivers, 55 pedestrians and 20 bicyclists. Five of those injuries were fatal.
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