The family of a cyclist who was struck and killed on the Stanley Park Causeway nearly two years ago is suing for unspecified damages.
Antonina Elzbieta Skoczylas, a resident of North Vancouver, was cycling down the west sidewalk of the causeway on May 25, 2013 when she collided with at least one pedestrian. The bike then veered into traffic, where Skoczylas was struck and killed by a bus.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court by Slawomir Stanislaw Skoczylas and Slawomir Zygmunt Skoczylas, the victim’s husband and son. It names the West Vancouver Blue Bus Transit System and bus driver Murray Scott Carpenter, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure as well as two pedestrians, Iloiko Elizabeth Laszlo and an unidentified person (Jane Doe No. 1), as the defendants. The suit claims negligence on the part of each defendant.
The suit alleges the bus driver failed to keep a proper look out, failed to see Skoczylas at a reasonable time or at all and failed to steer the bus so as to avoid the accident, among other allegations.
It alleges the Blue Bus Transit System did not adequately train Carpenter in defensive driving or accident avoidance and failed in implementing a policy on “having regard to the foreseeability of cyclists falling into the Stanley Park Causeway,” among others.
The suit claims negligence on the part of the B.C. Ministry of Transportation including the sidewalks of the causeway being too narrow and the lack of a fence or barrier between the sidewalk and roadway.
It also alleges the ministry failed to take steps to control or reduce the speed of cyclists using the sidewalks nor put up any warning signs on the dangers of cycling down that sidewalk.
It claims negligence on the part of pedestrians Laszlo and unidentified person Jane Doe No. 1, at least one of whom Skoczylas collided with, alleging failure to see the cyclist at a reasonable time or at all, and not providing the cyclist with enough room to navigate past them.
As a result of the accident, the plaintiffs are claiming a loss of financial support, care and companionship.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
The lawsuit comes just days after the ministry announced a $7-million overhaul of the causeway’s sidewalks, including wider lanes, individual lanes for cyclists and pedestrians and safety rails on each side.
