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Serious Injuries to 5 Year-old Boy Result in 6 Million Dollar Settlement

By William S. Bailey

A serious child injury case with both premises liability and inattentive driving elements against multiple defendants resulted in a combined settlement of $6,000,000. On July 6, 1996, five-year-old Sam Prichard and his family had been at Sequim Bay State Park for several days, enjoying the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Sam was struck by a car in the late afternoon while crossing U.S. 101 after he had been left unattended by defendant campground host William Maxwell at an organized park sponsored softball game for children.

Sequim Bay State Park is a multi-use year-round recreational and camping facility run by the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission. It is somewhat unusual in that it has a heavily traveled highway, U.S. 101, going through the middle of the park. The baseball field, tennis courts and play field at Sequim Bay State Park are across U.S. 101 from the campground. A tunnel under U.S. 101 was built in the mid-1930's and connects the campground with the ball fields and recreation area. There is chronic water seepage into the tunnel, graffiti on the walls and no artificial light, making it uninviting to pedestrians. Worn paths in the adjoining grassy areas showed that many campers routinely crossed over the road rather than use the tunnel. As revealed in the case, so did the park staff. There is no fence at the park separating the baseball field from the heavily traveled adjacent highway, or channeling pedestrians to the tunnel.

A few weeks after school let out for the 1996 summer season, the Prichard family set off in their motor home for the July Fourth weekend. Using a telephone reservation system, they obtained a reservation for a hookup campsite at Sequim Bay State Park . The Prichard family consists of Becky and Doug Prichard and their three children. Sam was the youngest, at age five. Mr. and Mrs. Prichard were cautious, responsible parents, who were careful in choosing and monitoring the activities of all their children.

As soon as they arrived at the park, defendant William Maxwell, the campground host, was on duty to welcome them. Besides greeting the family, Mr. Maxwell helped them to establish their campsite.

Mr. Maxwell was acknowledged by all to be a charming, charismatic and trustworthy seeming individual, who made his presence known to all campground visitors at Sequim Bay State Park . Park rangers and visitors alike described him as having a strong and commanding personality and being a vital presence within the park.

After they settled in for the weekend, the Prichards, including Sam, spent some time with Mr. Maxwell and were favorably impressed. As the person who interacted first, and most intimately, with campground guests, Mr. Maxwell tried hard to engender a friendly, upbeat spirit around the campground. As youngsters will, Sam quickly seemed to idealize Mr. Maxwell, who had a grandfatherly manner. Unfortunately, Mr. Maxwell's aspirations exceeded his abilities, causing him to overextend himself with tragic consequences.