“Car Surfing” and Negligent School Supervision in Washington

Posted Saturday, April 7, 2018 by Chris Thayer

Lupo Benson was 18 years old when he fell off the hood of his friend’s SUV in 2015. He hit his head and suffered a traumatic brain injury, dying the next day.

Benson’s parents recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kent School District, claiming that school personnel failed to supervise the parking lot the day their son died. They also claim that the school knew that students engaged in “car surfing” but failed to prevent it from happening. “Car surfing” is a dangerous activity that involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle while someone else is driving, which is what Benson and his friend were doing when he died.

Negligent School Supervision

Washington school districts can be held liable when negligent supervision or failure to supervise student activities results in student injury or death. According to the Washington Supreme Court, “a school district owes a duty to its students to employ reasonable care and to anticipate reasonably foreseeable dangers so as to take precautions for protecting children in its custody from dangers.”

In the car surfing case, the Bensons allege that the school district had a policy “forbidding reckless driving” in their son’s high school parking lot. The district also assigned staff to watch the parking lot to make sure students complied with the policy. The fact that the district has this policy, and actively enforces this policy, suggests that the car surfacing was a reasonably foreseeable danger.

Schools and school districts are also responsible for supervising students while:

• Playing on the playground during recess;
• Participating in school-sanctioned activities, like sporting practices and games, theater rehearsals and performances, band practice and any club activity;
• Attending school dances, fundraisers, field trips and other sanctioned off-campus activities; and
• Any time during school hours and while on school grounds.

*Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Washington*State law allows family members to file a wrongful death lawsuit against anyone whose negligence or wrongful act results in a loved one’s death. Only certain family members are eligible to seek this compensation. Eligible survivors are:

• The personal representative of the loved one’s estate;
• The loved one’s spouse or registered domestic partner;
• The loved one’s children or stepchildren; or
• Parents or siblings, if the loved one was not married or did not have any children.

The deadline (statute of limitations) for filing a wrongful death claim in Washington is three years from the date of the death.

Eligible survivors may seek the following compensation:

• The loved one’s final medical bills and funeral and burial expenses;
• Lost wages that the loved one likely would have earned throughout his or her lifetime;
• Pain and suffering that the loved one experienced;
• Loss of care, companionship and other noneconomic (not easily quantifiable) damages; and
• Any relevant property damage costs.

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Contact one of our personal injury attorneys today for a free consultation if a loved one died because of someone’s negligent actions. Our experienced attorneys will help recover compensation for your loved one’s wrongful death.