LPOSD seeks suit's dismissal

SANDPOINT — The Lake Pend Oreille School District is moving to upend a lawsuit filed by a student athlete who was injured in a cycling accident during cross country practice in 2009.

Counsel for the school district is seeking summary judgment in the negligence suit filed by the student’s parents, contending that there is no need for a trial because there are no material issues of fact which need to be resolved.

Mike and Joan Richardson filed suit against the district after their son collided with a Ford Mustang while riding downhill on Pinecrest Loop Road. Michael Richardson, who was 17 at the time, was cycling because he was nursing a leg injury that prevented him from running with the team.

The bike helmet the younger Richardson was wearing disintegrated upon impact, leaving him with a closed head wound, according to the civil complaint. He alleged that he crashed because the Giant Iguana mountain bike he was riding had faulty front and rear hand brakes.

The district is moving to have the litigation dismissed because its expert witness, a doctorate from Applied Cognitive Sciences in Spokane, inspected the bike and found that its center-pull cantilever brake system was in good condition and proper adjustment.

As a result, expert Richard Gill, concluded there was no probability that the breaks failed. The couple who owned the bike also submitted affidavits stating that the bike had been previously used by Richardson and others without problems.

Bret A. Walter, the district’s counsel, further fortified the motion with a Sandpoint High School newspaper column written by Michael Richardson in which he states he rode into the vehicle.

A hearing on the district’s motion is set for later this month.