This case involved a 15-year-old skateboarder who was skateboarding on the wrong side of the roadway going down a hill in San Francisco. He saw a bus in front of him and knew that this particular bus always went straight, so the skateboarder proceeded to run a stop sign at 30 miles an hour.

Suddenly, the bus instead of going straight, made a left turn in front of the 15-year-old boy. He was unable to stop and slid under the bus and the back wheel of the bus ran over his pelvis.

The plaintiff received severe degloving burn-like injuries and a severed urethra.

The defendant refused to settle the case alleging that the plaintiff’s conduct was outrageous; he was completely at fault for the accident. Further, although the bus did normally go straight, it took a left turn in this case because it was finished with its route and returning to the bus lot.

Plaintiff’s sole theory of recovery was that the bus driver failed to signal before making the left hand turn. The eyewitnesses were inconsistent on this point.

Since the defendant offered no money, the case was tried by John Winer. This was the first case he tried alone — the year was 1983. After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated but was unable to reach a verdict, hanging six/six. Thereafter, the case settled with the City and County shocked that they did not win the case easily.

RESULT: Confidential settlement on behalf of plaintiff