June 8, 2015
Lawsuit Filed By Clifford Law Offices on Behalf of Woman Killed by CTA Bus That Ran Red Light
Complaint at Law – File-Stamped
Clifford Law Offices filed a wrongful death complaint today on behalf of the family of the 51-year-old woman from Flossmoor, Illinois who was tragically killed Tuesday by a CTA bus that reportedly ran a red light and careened through a crosswalk and sidewalk full of pedestrians before crashing into a concrete wall at Michigan and Lake during rush hour Tuesday evening.
Aimee Coath had just left a meeting at her employer, The Gap, and was heading to the Metra Electric Line to meet family members for dinner in Flossmoor, when the No. 148 accordion -style bus struck her. Only the bus driver was on board. He was cited with several citations. The bus also hit several vehicles when it veered out of control in the downtown area.
“The Coath family was in the midst of planning Aimee’s daughter’s wedding and now this terrible tragedy has struck,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at the firm. “This incident was so avoidable. The driver should have exercised more care in the operation of this bus. Aimee has been described as such a loving mother and a wonderful person. Her death is just so senseless.”
A complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court today, June 8, 2015, the lawsuit alleged that the driver failed to control the bus, disregarded a red light, and drove at an excessive speed. The Chicago Transit Authority as well as the individual driver were named as defendants in the case. The plaintiffs in the matter are her two adult surviving children, Elaine Wilson and John Wilson.
Eight others were injured and taken to area hospitals following the incident, including the bus driver. It has been reported that the 48-year-old driver worked part-time for the CTA since September.
“We are going to uncover every fact regarding this terrible tragedy so that the family can get the full truth about what happened to this warm and sensitive mother,” Clifford added.
Clifford Law Offices has extensive experience against the CTA including a $24.14 million verdict in 1991 on behalf of an eight-year-old boy who was struck by a CTA bus and left permanently brain damaged near his grammar school in Chicago. At the time, it was the largest damage award in the state’s history.
Attorneys at the firm have also settled a number of cases on behalf of those injured or killed by buses including a $5 million settlement on behalf of a father of two who was killed when struck by a bus assisting a student across the street in Bourbonnais in 2013, a $3.25 million settlement on behalf of a family whose husband/father of two was killed when he was run over by a CTA bus at Midway Airport in 2009, and a $1.6 million settlement last year on behalf of a 28-year-old woman who was dragged and run over by a CTA bus, suffering crushing injuries.
STATEMENT OF AIMEE COATH’S FAMILY
We are devastated and heartbroken by the loss of our beloved mother who was tragically killed last week by a CTA bus. Our mother was incredibly loving, kind, and energetic. These past few days have been terribly difficult, but the support of all of our relatives and friends has provided us with the comfort to cope with this terrible loss. We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
We have hired Clifford Law Offices to seek answers to our questions. We know that our lives have now been irreversibly changed and this action can never bring our dear mother back, but there has to be full disclosure of the facts as to why something like this could happen. We cannot do this on our own, but through the civil justice system, we feel we will get the answers we want and the closure we need. We hope those answers will also improve bus safety to spare others this heartbreak.
One week ago, our mom was excitedly planning a wedding and arranging to take a trip to the East Coast to be with us. Instead, we buried her. Now, there is only sorrow and tears as we try to cope with such a sudden, unexpected loss. We pray for our mom and we hope that others do not go through what our family must now endure forever.
-Elaine and John Wilson
For further information or to talk to Clifford, contract Clifford Law Offices’ Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at (847) 721-0909.