Plaintiff was a 25 year old Dutch model and summer neuroscience student at UCSD.  While riding her bike in the bicycle lane on La Jolla Village Drive, she was struck by a North County Transit District bus.  Plaintiff was caught underneath the tire in the wheel well and dragged over twenty feet on the concrete. She suffered catastrophic degloving injuries to her legs that required multiple skin graft sugeries.  She also underwent surgery to repair her crushed ankle.  Plaintiff was left with a permanent limp and disfiguring scarring, ending her modeling career.

The Defendant asserted that Plaintiff came out of a driveway adjacent to the bus and made a sharp right turn in front of the bus, blaming her for causing the accident.

Ultimately, the Defendant did not contest the nature or severity of Plaintiff's injuries, nor her future care needs, but instead focused on liability.  The initial police investigation, relying on the faulty testimony of the bus driver, initially concluded that Plaintiff was at fault.  In deposition, the bus driver admitted that he never actually saw the Plaintiff before the impact.  The police investigator later admitted his own errors during his deposition as well.  After obtaining these crucial admissions in discovery, the Defendant ultimately conceded its position and settled on the eve of trial.  While Plaintiff never resumed her modeling career, she did ultimately finish her schooling and obtained an advanced degree in neuroscience.