Cyclist Left Quadriplegic by a Hidden Trail Bollard Recovers $10 Million From King County

On a rainy, foggy morning in March 2017, Carl Schwartz was riding the Green River Trail near Cecil Moses Memorial Park in Tukwila. He was an experienced cyclist moving at roughly 15 miles per hour through overcast conditions. He never saw the metal bollard the county had set in the pavement. His carbon fiber bike hit the post and shattered, throwing him over the handlebars and onto his head.

The impact fractured his cervical spine. Schwartz, a retired hospital administrator, was left quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. He spent about seven months dependent on a ventilator. Doctors told him he would never breathe on his own again. He eventually did.

Davis Law Group, led by attorney Chris Davis, sued King County. The firm argued the bollard had poor visibility, carried no warning signs, and sat in an unusual location that was not near an intersection or trailhead. Davis pointed to federal guidance issued about a decade before the crash that advised against installing such posts except where there was a documented history of motor vehicles entering a trail.

King County moved to dismiss the case, citing Washington's recreational use immunity statute, RCW 4.24.210, which shields landowners who open their property for free public recreation. The trial court agreed and threw the lawsuit out. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision. In September 2022 the Washington Supreme Court affirmed the reversal in a 5 to 4 ruling, holding that a jury could find the bollard was a known, dangerous, artificial, latent condition that fell within an exception to the immunity law. The case returned to the trial court.

A jury trial was set for August 2023. After a full day of mediation, the county agreed to settle rather than face a verdict. "The county ended up basically admitting that Carl was not the only one that was responsible here and agreed to pay $10 million to settle the case," Davis said. The payment came nearly six years after Schwartz broke his neck on the trail. Because the case resolved by settlement, the amount was not reduced or remitted on appeal.