Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman attorneys have reached a $3.9 million settlement with the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (DOT) on behalf of the family of a 21-year-old Mililani man who was killed when his car struck a damaged highway guardrail.
This young man was driving on H-3 Freeway near Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i in August 2020 when his vehicle veered off the road and struck a damaged guardrail. According to the lawsuit filed by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman attorneys, the guardrail had been damaged by a crash that had occurred in the same location 18 months earlier.
A DOT crew had cut away the damaged rail and replaced it with a temporary repair known as a “boxing glove” – a curved or rounded rail that is not considered “crashworthy.” During the 18 months when the guardrail was unsafe, the DOT neglected to schedule repairs, according to a report from the Hawai‘i Attorney General.