Claims She Had No Idea Bridge Was Going To Open. Slipped, Fell While Escaping…
BY: LITIGATION DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
BOYNTON BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A New Jersey woman visiting South Florida claims she had no idea that the drawbridge that connects Ocean Avenue to both sides of the Intracoastal was going to open on March 1, 2024. As she walked across the bridge, Barbara Wasserman claims that bells alerted the bridge was opening, and that the operator for “Florida Drawbridges, Inc.,” should have seen her. Fearing that she wasn’t seen, with the bridge rising, Wasserman ran down the bridge to safety, only to trip, fall, and sustain what a lawsuit calls permanent injuries.
BocaNewsNow.com obtained the complaint just filed by Barbara Wasserman and her husband David against Florida Drawbridges, Inc. Here are some of the key arguments made in the claim that seeks in excess of $50,000:
“On March 1, 2024, the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN, was walking on the north side of the Ocean Avenue drawbridge in Boynton Beach, Florida. As Plaintiff. BARBARA WASSERMAN, was visiting the area from out of state, she was unfamiliar with the subject drawbridge. As she began crossing the drawbridge, the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN heard alarm bells go off as the bridge-tender began to open the drawbridge when the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN, had crossed not one, but two pedestrian gates.
Understanding that the bridge was about to open while she was in an area where pedestrians were prohibited, the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN, panicked for two reasons. First, she was unfamiliar with the drawbridge and did not know if she was on a part of the moving bridge. Second, the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN, was aware of a recent local tragedy where a woman named Carol Wright fell to her death in West Palm Beach, Florida when a bridge operator opened the drawbridge while Carol Wright was walking on it. As such, the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN proceeded to hurry underneath the small space available on the second pedestrian gate in a frantic effort to get off of the drawbridge. As she attempted to do so, she fell onto the hard concrete. The Plaintiff, Barbara Wasserman, was permanently injured as a result her fall.
At all times material hereto, Defendant, FDI, owed a duty to the Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN and the public at large to operate the subject drawbridge in a reasonably safe manner to ensure that it was safe for pedestrians. At all times material hereto, Defendant, FDI, breached said duty by negligently, carelessly, and recklessly operating the Ocean Ave / Boynton Beach drawbridge as follows: in the wake of Carol Wright’s death, failing to properly train its bridgetenders not to open the subject drawbridge when pedestrians were in areas located past the pedestrian safety gates; failing to properly keep a lookout for pedestrians on the drawbridge before engaging the draw bridge’s alarm to raise the drawbridge; initiating the drawbridge’s alarms when pedestrians are in an unsafe location on the bridge in close proximity to the moving drawbridge; opening the drawbridge when pedestrians are in an unsafe location on the bridge in close proximity to the moving drawbridge; and failing to hire, observe, and/or monitor its bridgetenders who are unfit to serve as bridge-tenders
As a result of the negligence of FDI, Plaintiff, BARBARA WASSERMAN, suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of the capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment and aggravation/activation of a previously existing condition. These losses are permanent or continuing and Plaintiff Barbara Wasserman will suffer those loses in the future.”
Public records reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com indicate that the Wassermans are from Mahwah, New Jersey. They are are represented by Matthew Schwencke of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart and Shipley of West Palm Beach. Florida Drawbridges Inc. had not responded to the suit through a filing processed by the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts as of Sunday afternoon.
