Saturday July 4, 2009 turned tragic for 60-year-old Illinois resident Shanon Miller and her family. Miller, who visiting San Diego with her husband over the 4th of July weekend to attend an educational convention, was killed after suffering injury upon being thrown from a pedi-cab.
After attending an early morning session of an education conference at the San Diego Convention Center, Shanon Miller and a friend hired a pedi-cab to take them back to their nearby hotel. Unfortunately for Miller and her family, the pedi-cab operator they hired failed to use due care and while swerving amongst the sidewalk in what some have described as a “joy-ride” with Miller and her colleague, Miller was thrown from the cab. When thrown, Miller struck her head on the sidewalk curb, sustaining a serious closed head injury that proved fatal. Miller died Monday morning in San Diego, California.
The specific events of this accident, although still under investigation, have led authorities to believe that the accident was the result of reckless driving by the pedi-cab’s operator. Identified as 23-year-old Sukru Safa Cinar, police believe that the accident occurred when Cinar drove his pedi-cab onto the sidewalk and began swerving in and out of pedestrians in order to circumvent busy holiday street traffic. Although charges have not yet been filed, Cinar may face a misdemeanor manslaughter charge it if turns out that his conduct was reckless.
Cinar was an independent contractor who had rented the pedi-cab from a company that rents/leases pedi-cabs to operators for day use. Although he was not working for a company, he did maintain a work permit as well as a permit to operate the pedi-cab. Whether he maintained liability insurance is still yet unknown.
The issue of whether or not he maintained liability insurance is critical to the potential recovery surrounding the tragic loss that the family of Shanon Miller has suffered. Merely 60-years of age, Miller was in the prime of her life. Her premature death is most unfortunate, for her family and friends.
As a paid-for-hire commercial operator required to use utmost care, Cinar will be held to a very high standard of caution if a wrongful death lawsuit is filed by the family of Shanon Miller. While pedi-cabs are seemingly fun and innocent vehicles that are frequently used in busy downtown commercial districts, pedi-cabs can be dangerous when not operated with utmost caution. The civil laws that regulate other commercial transport vehicles such as taxi-cabs and water ferries similarly apply to pedi-cabs.
The firm Berman & Riedel, LLP is a highly acclaimed San Diego, California based firm which focuses its practice on handling significant personal injury and wrongful death matters. Led by Firm Managing Partner William M. Berman who is recognized as a Top-10 San Diego Personal Injury Attorney, the firm has been lauded for achieving unparallelled success in handling many difficult wrongful death matters with great success, including wrongful death claims involving young children, professional athletes, and elder adults. More information about the firm’s attorneys or the successes of the firm can be found at either www.bermanlawyers.com or the personal injury page. The attorneys an be contacted anytime by calling the firm at (858) 350-8855.
