- Dec 14, 2000
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http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl...?AID=/20070301/COMMUNITIES11/703010351
bicycling doctor has sued his then-11-year-old inline-skating neighbor for pain and suffering after they collided on their Chester Township street in 2003.
Their trial is under way in Morristown this week.
Lauren Ellis was inline-skating down her street on a fall afternoon when she collided with an adult neighbor, a prominent fertility doctor, who was bicycling.
Dr. Alexander Dlugi, now 54, sued the child, claiming she was negligent and caused the collision by reacting unreasonably when he approached her from behind on Sugar Maple Row, shouted "watch out" and rang his bicycle bell.
This week, the seven-member jury in the civil trial pitting the endocrinologist against Ellis, now a 15-year-old freshman at West Morris-Mendham High School, heard testimony from the teenager and Dlugi, and opinions from an accident-reconstruction specialist.
The accident expert said on Wednesday Dlugi could have avoided the collision by simply riding around the skater.
Doctor's case
Dlugi was an owner of the Bedminster-based Center for Reproductive Endocrinology at the time of the accident, and remains a fertility specialist and part-owner of the center. He broke his collarbone when he tumbled from his bike. His attorney, Thomas Jardim, said the doctor's injury did not heal properly or quickly, so he underwent surgery in February 2004, and missed a significant amount of work and income.
The doctor has difficulty sleeping well, has lost mobility in his right shoulder and enjoyment of sports he used to excel at, including biking, swimming and tennis, Jardim said.
Ellis was bruised when the collision knocked her to the ground, but her parents, Jon and Janet Ellis, did not file a counter-suit.
"It may seem like an odd thing," Jardim said, of the lawsuit against the child. "But people are responsible for their actions." He said the law recognizes that minors over the age of 7 are presumed responsible for their actions, as adults are.
A defense witness
For Wednesday's testimony from John Desch, the president of an accident-reconstruction firm based in Riverdale, diagrams, photographs, an easel and ruler were used for an analysis of the encounter between the exercising neighbors on Oct. 19, 2003. Desch, who was called as a witness by Ellis' attorney, Joe Accardi, concluded that the girl did not do anything wrong, under the circumstances.
The girl was skating, generally on the right side of Sugar Maple Row, and Dlugi had passed her once on his first bicycle loop around the neighborhood. Ellis stopped skating and stepped to the curb when she noticed two approaching vehicles. She stepped back into the road -- with Dlugi a distance behind her on his bicycle -- and resumed skating. Then Dlugi decided to overtake and pass the girl on the road, Desch said.
Wrong move to left
Dlugi, who was traveling at no more than 8 mph, rang his bell and called out as he neared her. Hearing the noises, the girl turned around to see Dlugi waving at her and drawing near, and she tried to get out of his way but actually moved into his path and they collided, Desch explained.
"She's startled by the presence of the bicyclist. She takes evasive action to avoid an impending collision and moved further to the left," Desch said. "I don't find any fault with her actions at all."
He opined further that Dlugi should have fully braked, or maintained better control of his bicycle, and could have avoided the entanglement with the skater by riding around her in silence.
Jardim, the doctor's lawyer, sought to discredit Desch's opinions by noting he never investigated a collision between a bicyclist and a skater, and misidentified on his diagram the actual point of their crash. But Desch stuck fast to his opinion that the girl, ahead of the doctor on the same side of the road, had more rights than Dlugi did to her position on the street.
The trial before Superior Court Judge W. Hunt Dumont resumes today with testimony from medical doctors. Closing arguments are set for Monday.
now who is at fault? personally i think the doctor is. he was comeing up from behind the girl and startled her and she reacted. he should have taken care when passing her. now the scumbag is just trying to make a buck.
ok wanted to look more into it. seems they went to court and i have a update!
A Morris County jury deliberated about 15 minutes this afternoon before finding that an 11-year-old girl did not cause a fertility doctor to crash his bicycle in their Chester Township neighborhood in October 2003.
The doctor, Alexander Dlugi, was not in the Morris County courtroom when the jury of four men and three women announced a verdict that brought a smile to Lauren Ellis' face.
"I'm relieved it's over,'' said Ellis, who missed five days of her ninth grade classes for the trial.
One of the jurors, Leo Redmond 3d of Rockaway, said they believed that Ellis, now 15, was startled when Dlugi rode up behind her, rang his bicycle bell and yelled "Watch out!'' Ellis, who was on rollerblades, turned to her left and into the path of Dlugi.
"We all felt the story Lauren gave was right'' and that she acted appropriately, Redmond said.
Dlugi, who suffered a broken collarbone, said in his lawsuit that his fertility treatment practice lost about $323,000 due to the accident, of which he was due half. He also wanted money for pain and suffering.
So the bastard LOST! mwhahahah
bicycling doctor has sued his then-11-year-old inline-skating neighbor for pain and suffering after they collided on their Chester Township street in 2003.
Their trial is under way in Morristown this week.
Lauren Ellis was inline-skating down her street on a fall afternoon when she collided with an adult neighbor, a prominent fertility doctor, who was bicycling.
Dr. Alexander Dlugi, now 54, sued the child, claiming she was negligent and caused the collision by reacting unreasonably when he approached her from behind on Sugar Maple Row, shouted "watch out" and rang his bicycle bell.
This week, the seven-member jury in the civil trial pitting the endocrinologist against Ellis, now a 15-year-old freshman at West Morris-Mendham High School, heard testimony from the teenager and Dlugi, and opinions from an accident-reconstruction specialist.
The accident expert said on Wednesday Dlugi could have avoided the collision by simply riding around the skater.
Doctor's case
Dlugi was an owner of the Bedminster-based Center for Reproductive Endocrinology at the time of the accident, and remains a fertility specialist and part-owner of the center. He broke his collarbone when he tumbled from his bike. His attorney, Thomas Jardim, said the doctor's injury did not heal properly or quickly, so he underwent surgery in February 2004, and missed a significant amount of work and income.
The doctor has difficulty sleeping well, has lost mobility in his right shoulder and enjoyment of sports he used to excel at, including biking, swimming and tennis, Jardim said.
Ellis was bruised when the collision knocked her to the ground, but her parents, Jon and Janet Ellis, did not file a counter-suit.
"It may seem like an odd thing," Jardim said, of the lawsuit against the child. "But people are responsible for their actions." He said the law recognizes that minors over the age of 7 are presumed responsible for their actions, as adults are.
A defense witness
For Wednesday's testimony from John Desch, the president of an accident-reconstruction firm based in Riverdale, diagrams, photographs, an easel and ruler were used for an analysis of the encounter between the exercising neighbors on Oct. 19, 2003. Desch, who was called as a witness by Ellis' attorney, Joe Accardi, concluded that the girl did not do anything wrong, under the circumstances.
The girl was skating, generally on the right side of Sugar Maple Row, and Dlugi had passed her once on his first bicycle loop around the neighborhood. Ellis stopped skating and stepped to the curb when she noticed two approaching vehicles. She stepped back into the road -- with Dlugi a distance behind her on his bicycle -- and resumed skating. Then Dlugi decided to overtake and pass the girl on the road, Desch said.
Wrong move to left
Dlugi, who was traveling at no more than 8 mph, rang his bell and called out as he neared her. Hearing the noises, the girl turned around to see Dlugi waving at her and drawing near, and she tried to get out of his way but actually moved into his path and they collided, Desch explained.
"She's startled by the presence of the bicyclist. She takes evasive action to avoid an impending collision and moved further to the left," Desch said. "I don't find any fault with her actions at all."
He opined further that Dlugi should have fully braked, or maintained better control of his bicycle, and could have avoided the entanglement with the skater by riding around her in silence.
Jardim, the doctor's lawyer, sought to discredit Desch's opinions by noting he never investigated a collision between a bicyclist and a skater, and misidentified on his diagram the actual point of their crash. But Desch stuck fast to his opinion that the girl, ahead of the doctor on the same side of the road, had more rights than Dlugi did to her position on the street.
The trial before Superior Court Judge W. Hunt Dumont resumes today with testimony from medical doctors. Closing arguments are set for Monday.
now who is at fault? personally i think the doctor is. he was comeing up from behind the girl and startled her and she reacted. he should have taken care when passing her. now the scumbag is just trying to make a buck.
ok wanted to look more into it. seems they went to court and i have a update!
A Morris County jury deliberated about 15 minutes this afternoon before finding that an 11-year-old girl did not cause a fertility doctor to crash his bicycle in their Chester Township neighborhood in October 2003.
The doctor, Alexander Dlugi, was not in the Morris County courtroom when the jury of four men and three women announced a verdict that brought a smile to Lauren Ellis' face.
"I'm relieved it's over,'' said Ellis, who missed five days of her ninth grade classes for the trial.
One of the jurors, Leo Redmond 3d of Rockaway, said they believed that Ellis, now 15, was startled when Dlugi rode up behind her, rang his bicycle bell and yelled "Watch out!'' Ellis, who was on rollerblades, turned to her left and into the path of Dlugi.
"We all felt the story Lauren gave was right'' and that she acted appropriately, Redmond said.
Dlugi, who suffered a broken collarbone, said in his lawsuit that his fertility treatment practice lost about $323,000 due to the accident, of which he was due half. He also wanted money for pain and suffering.
So the bastard LOST! mwhahahah
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