SANTA MONICA—A Santa Monica Superior Court jury has awarded a man nearly $14 million for injuries sustained while riding a Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus.  Joseph L. Garcia suffered permanent brain damage and is paralyzed on his left side, after the bus he was riding collided with a parked car on Santa Monica Boulevard in June 2005.

Attorneys for the defendant argued that the injuries were due to negligence within the MTA training program, and that the driver had a history of similar accidents.

Garcia, now 58, was represented by the Santa Monica law firm Greene,
Broillet, and Wheeler. “As an ordinary member of the public, Joseph Garcia had every right to expect that the person driving the MTA bus he boarded was properly trained," said Geoffrey S. Wells, an attorney with the firm. 
“We thank the jury for doing the right thing by Mr. Garcia who was so
horribly injured that he requires 24-hour attendant care for the rest of his life.”

“It is good that this case has resolved,” said Browne Greene, “but it is a far cry from being over because it raises serious concerns about the fallibility of the MTA’s driver training program. It’s frightening to think that the MTA is allowing unsafe drivers on the road and potentially jeopardizing the  public’s safety.”  During training, the driver of Garcia’s bus, Sylvia Delana Fairfax, had failed on at least four occasions to maintain the requisite 3 – 4 ½ feet from parked vehicles on the right side of the bus.  She is no longer employed by the MTA.

The trial for the case began on May 25, and the MTA formally admitted
liability less than a week later.  The more recent verdict,
delivered on June 8, dealt only with the issue of damages.

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