MARYSVILLE — Aubrey Knapp was driving to a family barbecue three years ago today.
Headed northbound outside Marysville, she saw rocks, grass and a red object rushing toward her. The last thing she remembers is screaming “No.” Knapp was hit by a car that crossed over the median and passed through the cable barriers.
She suffered serious injuries and spent nearly a month at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Knapp has undergone numerous surgeries and racked up more than $200,000 in medical bills, her attorney said.
Lawyers on Tuesday called attention to the anniversary of the crash, along with the pending lawsuit against the state. A lawsuit was filed last month against the state Department of Transportation alleging state officials were negligent when they incorrectly installed the cable barrier by placing it in the ditch in the median.
They further claimed the state failed to fix the problem when it was brought to their attention years before the crash, according to court documents.
Knapp’s attorneys also represented a Bothell family whose teenage daughter was killed in a 2004 crossover crash. The Holschens dropped litigation after the state agreed to pay them $2 million in 2006.
At least two other lawsuits are pending against the state over its use of cable barriers in Marysville.
An investigation by The Herald in July 2005 showed that the cable barriers in the freeway median were not working as designed where Knapp was injured.
An analysis of accident data by the newspaper showed that barriers failed to stop cars crossing the median 20 percent of the time along a three-mile stretch of the freeway.
The state installed a second set of cable barriers, but after a fatal cross over crash in 2007, Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered an independent study of the barriers.
In June 2007, a national traffic safety expert recommended concrete barriers replace cable barriers on a 10-mile section of I-5 where eight people had died in cross-median crashes since 2000.
Lawmakers in March approved $27 million to install the new concrete barriers.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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