Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Thursday, November 10, 2016
UPW Contract Protects Dangerous City Truck Driver Leading to Fatality, $1M Settlement
By News Release @ 2:35 AM :: 6283 Views :: Honolulu County, Labor

Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner Obtains $1M Settlement in Wrongful Death Case

Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner recently obtained a $1 million settlement for the estate and surviving sons of a woman who was struck and killed by a city refuse truck in 2014

News Release from Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner

HONOLULU, Nov. 8, 2016 -- Attorney Michael Cruise of Honolulu personal injury law firm Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner recently obtained a $1 million settlement for the estate and surviving sons of 70-year-old Barbara N. Kato, a Honolulu woman who was struck and killed by a garbage truck while crossing the street at a crosswalk. According to court documents, the accident occurred in the early morning hours of February 27, 2014 as she crossed North King Street at Gulick Avenue. The driver of the truck, Denise A. Kekumu, had been attempting to turn left onto Gulick when she struck the pedestrian. Ms. Kato died three hours later.

Kekumu had a history of eight prior avoidable accidents while driving a garbage truck, including hitting walls and parked cars. Because a driver's violations are expunged after two years under a union contract, Kekumu's driving skills never got the attention they needed. According to Cruise, the city "end[s] up with at least some drivers that have pretty bad driving histories and they're not getting retrained ... it's a public safety issue."

The Honolulu City Council unanimously approved the settlement on November 2, 2016, calling the accident a "clear case of negligence." Mr. Cruise, the attorney for Ms. Kato's estate and her sons, Keith and Kevin, said that he hopes that the city will take action to prevent another accident like this from occurring in the future. He pointed out that this accident was the third within 12 months involving a pedestrian struck by a city refuse truck.

Kekumu has been disciplined as a result of the incident.

Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner has proudly served injured people and their families in Hawaii since 1971. With over a century of combined legal experience, we are Hawaii's trusted injury attorneys. We handle the full range of personal injury cases, including car accidents, truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, defective products, premises liability, construction accidents, wrongful death, and more. To learn more about the types of cases we handle and to schedule a free evaluation of your potential case, please visit www.lyslaw.com.

---30---

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii