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The wife of a Palo Alto man who died from injuries that he suffered in a bicycle crash on Park Boulevard last September has filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that officials had failed to ensure safe conditions on the street.
Roderick McCalley was reportedly cycling southbound on 2400 block of Park Boulevard on Sept. 16 when he fell from his bike, sustaining a major head injury, according to the Palo Alto police. He was taken to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead two days after the accident.
The city maintained that McCalley, 81, had entered a lane that was closed for construction when the accident occurred. But the newly filed lawsuit claims that McCalley fell off the bike after he hit an unmarked open construction ditch in the asphalt.
“It is unusual and in an unexpected area. There were no warning signs,” states complaint that Peggy Hock-McCalley, the victim’s wife, filed against the city on Friday. “The defect in the road crated a dangerous, and hidden hazard for persons using the road. It was a foreseeable and a regular occurrence for persons to use the road every day.”
The lawsuit states that McCalley suffered a severe head injury and a neck fracture in the accident. Hock-McCalley is seeking more than $35,000 in damages from the city for creating dangerous conditions, negligence and wrongful death, according to the complaint. It alleges that the city failed to use “reasonable care in the construction, installation, use, operation or repair of the road area, resulting in the substandard condition,” according to the suit.
Because of the city’s “negligent act and omissions,” the plaintiff has suffered personal injuries including physical, mental and emotional pain, according to the complaint.
“She continues to suffer from these injuries,” the complaint states. “The conduct of these defendants was a direct and substantial factor in causing her harm.”
The lawsuit is seeking more than $35,000 in damages, with exact amount to be determined during trial.
A Portland native, Roderick McCalley lived in Idaho and later worked at Dartmouth University before moving to Palo Alto, where he worked at Lockheed Martin until retirement in 2003, according to his obituary.
