Spokane moving forward with $3.1 million settlement for man struck by car in dangerous crosswalk

A bit over four years ago, Benjamin Gedeon was hit by a car while legally walking across a marked crosswalk on Division Street.

Now, the city of Spokane is close to finalizing a $3.1 million settlement with Gedeon, who had argued the city had failed to provide a safe pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Rhoades Avenue and Division Street, four blocks north of Francis Avenue.

If the Spokane City Council approves the agreement, which is slated to come for a vote on March 27, the city would have to pay over $1.1 million before their insurer would pay the rest.

On Nov. 3, 2018, Gedeon had gone on his lunch break. He didn’t make it back.

After walking across Division Street to pick up something to eat, he was heading back to his job at Royals Cannabis when a Honda Element struck him and threw him “approximately 51 feet,” according to a lawsuit filed in 2021 against the city of Spokane and the driver, McKenna Bourgo.

Gedeon survived, but not without sustaining serious injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, a right subdural hematoma and a skull fracture, the lawsuit says.

Gedeon was hospitalized, intubated for a week and had part of his skull removed. He underwent “intensive inpatient rehabilitation due to difficulty eating, significant cognitive problems, balance problems, and difficulty with activities of daily living,” according to a complaint Gedeon filed in 2021. He underwent a second surgery but has struggled with ongoing “cognitive and emotional problems as a result of the traumatic brain injury,” the complaint claimed.

Gedeon has already settled with Bourgo, according to Ray Kayler, one of Gedeon’s attorneys.

The city also plans to spend $2.6 million this year on large pedestrian hybrid beacons, including at the intersections of North Nevada Street and Joseph Avenue, as well as Greene Street and Carlisle Avenue.

The U.S. Department of Transportation describes a pedestrian hybrid beacon as a traffic-control device that increases motorists’ awareness of pedestrian crossings at uncontrolled marked crosswalk locations. The beacons are activated by pedestrians and are timed to flash for the time it takes to cross on foot.

Another three beacons will be installed at intersections along Division Street, including at the intersection with Rhoades where Gedeon was struck in 2018.

“We are pleased that the city is planning to install a pedestrian hybrid beacon there to prevent another incident like this from happening,” Kayler said.

Gedeon’s is not the only multimillion -dollar settlement doled out in recent years by the city of Spokane. Last summer, the city agreed to pay $4 million as part of a legal settlement with the family of David Novak, who was shot and killed by police in 2019.