Boynton to pay bicyclist $50,000 after accident

BOYNTON BEACH — Boynton Beach will pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a resident who says the tire on the bicycle he was riding became stuck in a dilapidated drainage grate, propelling him over the handlebars and face-first onto the road.

Barry Goldman said he fractured his arm and a facial bone, needed 27 stitches in his lips and broke multiple teeth, according to the lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court by attorneys David Aronberg and Seth Green in 2015.

The incident happened in March 2015 around 8:30 p.m. on Northeast Fourth Avenue, a dead-end street between the Casa Costa condos off Federal Highway and St. Mark Catholic Church.

“Boynton failed in its duty to properly inspect, repair and make its roads safe for bicyclists,” the lawsuit states, adding that the city repaired the grate after Goldman fell.

Goldman’s attorney Green told The Palm Beach Post on Wednesday he is pleased with the outcome both for his client and for bicyclists who ride on that street, which he described as a “quiet, pedestrian roadway.”

Green commended the city for repairing the grate.

“Part of what we do is raise awareness of potential hazards and work with local officials and defendants to protect other people from getting injured,” Green said.

Goldman’s original demand was $200,000, according to city documents. If a settlement wasn’t reached, the city expected additional defense and trial costs to be about $30,000. Goldman’s treatment costs as of July 2015 had reached about $42,647, according to the lawsuit.

The City Commission signed off on the settlement Tuesday, but not everyone supported it. Commissioner Joe Casello questioned why the case, or any case against the city since he has been in office, hasn’t been brought to trial.

An answer wasn’t given. City Attorney Jim Cherof said a case against the city hasn’t been brought to trial within the past four or five years.

“Hell, let’s go in there and fight. Let’s win. Win or lose,” Casello said Tuesday. He said settling the cases is the “wrong way to do business.”

When Goldman was riding his bike, the tire got caught in the “eroded, dilapidated sewer/drainage grate,” the lawsuit states. A gap of between 1 inch and more than 2 inches existed between the road or cement and the sewer/drainage grate. When Goldman fell, he landed on his face and left outstretched arm.

Goldman is now back riding his bike and made a “very good recovery” compared to what his attorneys predicted after the accident, Green said.