COLUMBIA — A bicyclist involved in a 2005 accident didn't look both ways at the intersection of College and Rollins avenues before crossing on a red light, according to the depositions of two witnesses read in court Monday as the defense presented its case.
"She looked left really quick and then went through the intersection," Christy Deviney said in her deposition, which was read on the stand by a lawyer for the city of Columbia.
Deviney and Katie Long, then MU students, were stopped in a car waiting to turn left from East Rollins Avenue onto North College Avenue when they saw the Aug. 18 accident that left Krysten Chambrot severely injured.
Chambrot's personal injury lawsuit names, among others, the City of Columbia and the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission as defendants. Chambrot is an MU graduate student and an employee of the Missourian.
Chambrot, then 19 and an undergraduate student at MU, was riding her bicycle east on Rollins crossing College when she was first hit by a car driven by Judy Pope. Chambrot was then thrown from her bicycle. She was then hit and dragged by a Columbia Water and Light truck driven by Michael Arens. Both Pope and Arens are defendants in the case.
According to Long, a passenger in Deviney's vehicle, they were in the first car in the turn lane and were stopped at the red light "for a significant amount" of time before the accident occurred.
Both of the witnesses' depositions assert that Chambrot was riding against the light. Chambrot's attorney, Donald Schlapprizzi, speaking hypothetically during jury selection, asked potential jurors if they could still find in Chambrot's favor if she is found to have been partly responsible for what happened to her.
The truck driver, Arens, 29, also testified Monday that Chambrot crossed against the light.
The Columbia Water and Light employee told the jury that the northbound traffic signal on College Avenue was green, and that when he entered the intersection, the utility truck he was driving struck a bicycle.
"I remember the bike was like almost coming up at me and I broke pretty hard," Arens said.
Arens also said that he was driving under the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour.
"I recall cars passing us when we turned onto College," said Brett Helms, another Columbia Water and Light employee who was a passenger in Arens' truck.
In testimony earlier in the trial, the plaintiff's side has focused on the intersection's lack of an "all-red clearance" policy, which allows extra time for crossing. But a project manager from MoDOT called by the defense Monday said that in her observation, an "all-red clearance" was not necessary at the intersection.
"I didn't consider an all-red at all," said Nicole Hood, who had programmed the traffic signals in January 2005.
Closing statements are expected to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday.