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Monday, November 23, 2009

City Taking the Pedicabs to Court

Posted by on Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 12:26 PM

The family of Peter Dzioba—the 60-year-old tourist who was killed in August of 2008 after his pedicab lost control on a steep downtown hill, collided with a scooter, and threw him into the path of an oncoming minivan—says it has filed suit against Cascadia Cabs, the company that runs the Seattle pedicab service, and the pedicab's Chinese manufacturer.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, and was explained this way in a press release by Dzioba's widow, Mary:

Our trip to Seattle should have been a cherished memory of our 25th wedding anniversary, but it turned into a nightmare. We were on a trip celebrating our life together. And instead, I ended up mourning his death. This should have never happened to us, and I want to ensure that it will never happen to another family.

 

Comments (14) RSS

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mrbombit 1
Wasn't this in a Seinfeld?
Posted by mrbombit on November 23, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I'm 85 Years Old 2
There has to be a better name than pedicab
Posted by I'm 85 Years Old on November 23, 2009 at 12:41 PM
3
What the hell is a Padicab?
Posted by nonce on November 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM
4
Why should the victims in this tragedy even have to file suit? The pedicab company's insurer should be offering a 7-figure settlement from the start. There is no legitimate question of liability here.

The company cannot dodge responsibility to the victims (their customers) by pointing to the driver or the pedicab manufacturer (let the insurer go after the manufacturer if they wish).

Businessmen and insurers like to rail against trial lawyers, but they have only themselves to blame; seems to me.
Posted by Citizen R on November 23, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Dougsf 5
If the press doesn't fold these operations, the settlement will.
Posted by Dougsf on November 23, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Fnarf 6
Headline Spelling Alert.

Seems like those things ought to have brakes, huh?
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on November 23, 2009 at 12:57 PM
7
@4,

The manufacturer likely has deeper pockets. It's in the family's interests to sue the manufacturer directly.
Posted by keshmeshi on November 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Hernandez 8
Pedicabs in relatively flat, easy to navigate places make perfect sense. In downtown Seattle, where it's all a series of steep hills and not very bike-friendly, not so much. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my personal safety to a moonlighting bike messenger zooming down large hills in one of those awkward contraptions (no offense to my bike messenger pals, of course).
Posted by Hernandez http://hernandezlist.blogspot.com on November 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM
9
Look at it this way, your next trip to Seattle can't be any worse.
Posted by there's always a bright side on November 23, 2009 at 1:42 PM
derrickito 10
i wonder if they'd settle for the pedicab driver being their personal slave for life?
Posted by derrickito on November 23, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Cato the Younger Younger 11
I wonder if they could show a scooter zooming away from an evil padicab in the new Hover-Round commercial?
Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on November 23, 2009 at 2:17 PM
HelpMeJebus 12
LOL @9
Posted by HelpMeJebus on November 23, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Grant Brissey 13
Headline spelling error fixed in an untimely manner.
Posted by Grant Brissey http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author.html?oid=23414 on November 23, 2009 at 7:38 PM
baconpussy 14
@13: too late; for me, they are Padicabs forever. I assume they are foot-powered conveyances, driven by the Irish.

Thank you.
Posted by baconpussy on November 24, 2009 at 8:18 AM

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