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Nearly a year ago today, 20-year-old Mountain View motorcyclist Devan Harper fatally crashed in Palo Alto while driving westbound on the Oregon Expressway near Alma Street.
Now, his mother Tanya Baudin is filing suit against the city of Palo Alto and Santa Clara County, arguing that the road was inadequately maintained to the point of negligence, and thus caused her son’s death.
Baudin filed the lawsuit on Dec. 19, a year and three days after Harper died. Police told this publication at the time that Harper struck a curb and crashed, and there did not appear to be other vehicles involved. A Palo Alto police officer on regular patrol found Harper, and he was immediately transported to a local hospital where he died. The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed the cause of death to be a traumatic brain injury and the manner of death to be accidental.
The wrongful death suit argues that the city and county “failed to provide adequate safeguards against this known dangerous condition by, among other acts and omissions, failing to fix the dangerous condition that is reasonably believed to have occurred over time.”
The complaint from Friday states that a claim was also filed directly with the city and county but was denied.
The city of Palo Alto declined to comment on the suit.
Shortly after Harper’s death, Baudin launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe and raised just over $15,000 toward his funeral and memorial expenses. She described her son as “dedicated, loyal, genuine, and silly at times” in the fundraiser description.
“He treated every person he knew with kindness and respect, and all he wanted was for everyone surrounding him to be happy,” Baudin wrote. “He influenced and touched the lives of many, and the memories and friendships he left behind will be cherished forever.”
Mother of Mountain View motorcyclist who died in crash sues Palo Alto for negligenceDecember 22, 2025 6:12 pm