Man Receives $225,000 Settlement after Being Hit by Baltimore Fire Vehicle
Almost five years after he was struck by a city vehicle, a Baltimore man will receive a nearly quarter-million-dollar settlement from the city on Monday.
The Baltimore Board of Estimates approved a $225,000 settlement for Daryl Bailey, who sued the city after he was struck by a Baltimore City Fire Department vehicle in 2021.
On Nov. 2, 2021, Bailey was crossing the street at the intersection of Saratoga Street and Holliday Street in downtown Baltimore. As he was crossing the street, a BCFD sedan struck him. Bailey suffered multiple injuries, including a torn rotator cuff that will require surgery to fix.
A CitiWatch camera in the area confirmed that the pedestrian walk light was green when Bailey crossed the street. Matthew Bradford, Chief of Staff for the Baltimore Law Department, said the city driver made a left turn onto Holliday when they struck Bailey.
“Given its likelihood for an adverse jury verdict, the law department negotiated and recommends an approval of a settlement,” Bradford said. “Our understanding is that the city driver has not been disciplined, but information was pretty limited here, given the age of the incident.”
Changes to the city’s accident oversight
Comptroller Bill Henry said he, City Administrator Faith Leach, Mayor Brandon Scott, and the law department should minimize the chance of city departments avoiding change after incidents such as Bailey’s. Leach said the city has been working with Baltimore City’s Risk Management to ensure it is more proactive in preventing more incidents like this one.
“We’ve been working on constituting an accident review committee,” Leach said. “We actually have a draft policy that will be making its way to the [board of estimates].”
Leach said the city is “just a few board meetings away” from a revised policy being presented to the board of estimates.
“With a little luck, this will mean that Matthew only has to worry about this for roughly 30 to 36 more months, given the general lag between how long it takes for something to happen to percolate its way through the claims process and the settlement process,” Henry said.
Bradford clarified that Bailey’s case took nearly five years due to the suit being filed at the end of the three-year deadline plaintiffs are given to file a lawsuit against the city.
“Though there was not much dispute here,” Bradford said. “We do sometimes have to go to the discovery process, even when somebody is injured, just so we can know the nature of what we’re going to spend.”
During the previous board of estimates meeting on April 1, the city approved $230,271 in settlements for four different accidents caused by city infrastructure or residents. Bailey’s incident brings the total of settlements for April to $455,271.
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