CENTRAL PARK BIKE RIDER INJURED IN COLLISION ACCIDENT WITH BICYCLE RACER

From:New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Queens Injury Lawyer)

As you're reading this blog, I'd like you to think like a law student and ask yourself: "Who can you sue for this accident"?

On March 28, 2004, James Gortych went for a bicycle ride in New York City's Central Park. He was 60 years-old and very athletic - an experienced bicyclist and competitive runner. Unbeknownst to Gortych, the 2004 Biatholon (running and bicycle riding) was in progress in the park. Expected to take part in the event were 5oo people, with another 100 or so watching.

Central Park was not closed and remained open to walkers, joggers, bicyclists, and skaters, who have the right of way. On March 28, 2004, the Biathlon was held along a six-mile loop around the park, divided into three parts: a two-mile run component, followed by a 12-mile bicycle component, and then another two-mile run. Inside-the-park Biatholon participants were threatened with disqualification if they biked in the public recreation lanes, which were marked with a double white line. The Biatholon had workers stationed around the race course and placed orange warning cones, in order to prevent accidents.

Gortych had been to Central Park about a dozen times. On the day of the accident, he intended to enjoy a relaxing bicycle ride in the park as a prelude to a running race the following week. He chose Central Park because it was closed to car, bus and truck traffic that day, as it was on every weekend.

Gortych did not see the bicycle race. Between 9:00 and 9:30 AM, as he rode into a curve, he felt a "push" at the back of his bicycle, at which point Biatholon biker Robert Brenner accidentally collided with him. Gortych was knocked unconscious and suffered serious physical injuries, including fractures of bones in his face, requiring surgery.

For his accident and injuries, Gortych sued Brenner, the New York Triathlon Club, the New York Triathlon Club Inc., the City of New York, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. As against the City of New York, Gortych claimed that it was negligent in providing a permit for the Biathlon with full knowledge that the general public would be utilizing the Central Park East Drive and that the Biathlon consisted of bicyclists competing in a timed race and to allow the race to take place among the general public.

This case now comes up on the City of New York's motion for summary judgment (on paper) to let it out of the case. The City argued that it was the club's duty to organize the race and that it merely "furnished the occasion" for the accident by issuing a permit, a governmental function for which it could not be held liable. The City of New York also insisted that Gortych knew about the race and assumed the risk when he chose to ride in the park, contending he had been alerted to the race and that the dangers were apparent.

Gortych counter-argued that the City, as the owner and operator of the park, owed a general duty to all of its guests and denied he had assumed a risk of collision with a racing cyclist.

This week, Manhattan Justice Barbara Jaffe agreed that the City owed a duty to Gortych. Justice Jaffe found that the shared lane provided "abundant opportunities for collision." It was for a jury to decide if any negligence by the City of New York's negligence contributed to this accident.

Comment: I wonder if Gortych was wearing a helmet.