County Urged to Settle Dancer’s $250,000 Suit

The Los Angeles County Claims Board voted Monday to recommend paying $250,000 to settle the lawsuit of a dance student who was disabled in a car crash on her way home from the Renaissance Pleasure Faire 14 years ago.

Debra Thompson was injured when her husband swerved off a two-lane road to avoid a head-on collision with another car while trying to pass other vehicles on a blind curve in April, 1976, said Lloyd Halstead, vice-chair of the claims board.

Thompson, who was 19 at the time of the accident, sued the county, alleging that cars leaving the fair were routed onto a road that should have been marked with signs warning motorists of the curve, and that the street should have been designated as a no-passing zone, Halstead said.

The accident left Thompson unable to dance because one leg is now an inch shorter than the other, Halstead said. He said she incurred $108,000 in medical bills, and lost another $100,000 in wages as a result of the accident.