Prokop Travesty! Cyclists set back by Prokop ruling.

Here is the article on the Prokop case out in Los Angeles County. It seems that Los Angeles is Immune! Since this is the case, then cyclists have to use any cycling facilities with due regard, even if they are constructed by a government agency.


Here is a link to the article as posted on Metnews:
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2007/prok052207.htm

Here is a particularily pertinent extract from the article, under fair use:

Justice Paul Boland, writing for the Court of Appeal, said the trial judge was correct, noting that a series of cases have held that bike paths, both paved and unpaved, are trails and that absolute immunity applies as a result. In doing so, he rejected the argument that Farnham, which dealt with an accident on the Sepulveda Basin Bikeway along the perimeter of Balboa Park in the San Fernando Valley, should be overruled or distinguished.

Prokop’s expert insisted that the gate where the injury occurred does not comply with the criteria set out in the California Highway Design Manual, as required by the California Bicycle Transportation Act. But even if that is so, Boland explained, the immunity has not been waived because Government Code Sec. 815 makes clear that a statute granting immunity takes precedence over any enactment purporting to impose liability on a public entity. -Metnews Staff Writer