A settlement has been reached in the case brought against the township by the parents of a 14-year-old Princeton girl who died in an accident in September, 2005, on the notoriously dangerous stretch of Alexander Road known as the s-curve.
According to Attorney Albert Stark, who represents Rebecca Annitto’s parents, the family agreed to settle out of court because West Windsor officials had taken steps to remedy the troublesome S-curve (see story below) since the lawsuit was filed in April, 2007.
In September, 2004, Annitto, a sophomore at Stuart Country Day School, died in an accident at the S-curve between the Glenview development and the Delaware & Raritan Canal. Annitto was a passenger in the 1986 Mercedes that skidded out of control on rain-slicked pavement at the curve into the opposing lane of traffic, and collided with another car.
In the accident’s wake, many, including Annitto’s father, questioned why the dangerous situation at the curve was not remedied before someone was killed. At the time, the curve was listed as the third-most hazardous stretch of road in the township, according to a study done several months before the accident.
Stark had argued that the township identified the curve as hazardous, but took no action to make it safer until after the accident.
The settlement calls for $760,000 to be paid by Katherine Thompson, the driver of the vehicle, and $10,000 by West Windsor Township. “The township has agreed to take steps to prevent this similar thing from happening, which is what convinced the Annittos to settle the case because they were most interested in the safety aspect,” Stark said.
“When the Annittos started the lawsuit, what they were really interested in was getting the road changed,” he said. “The parents are going to be making donations to rowing clubs and volunteer organizations that Rebecca was instrumental in.”
Stark, who is known for pursuing cases in which public safety is called into question, said that he and John Sakson — both of the firm Stark and Stark — who also worked on the case, have “handled a number of cases involving killer roads, and one of our goals is to satisfy the parents for their loss, but at the same time protect others from dangerous situations that persist.”
