Spokane Transit Authority pays $1.5M in 2011 accident

Published 12:18 pm Wednesday, October 14, 2015

SPOKANE, Wash. — A woman who was severely injured when her husband slammed into the back of a Spokane Transit Authority bus in 2011 has won a $1.5 million settlement from the agency.

The Spokesman-Review reports Danielle Laughner had been a passenger in an SUV that her husband Brian Laughner was driving when their vehicle rear-ended the STA bus, which had been stopped in the right-hand lane of U.S. Highway 2.

Danielle Laughner’s attorney said that the bus should have pulled to the side of the road instead of stopping in the lane. But the agency’s lawyers argued that Brian Laughner was obligated to avoid a rear-end collision under state law.

The case was handed over to the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool, which decided to settle the claim.