Driver in Scripps Ranch collision files suit over the center median

The victim of a head-on collision which killed his partner and left him with a severe brain injury has filed a lawsuit against the city for failing to design and maintain a safe roadway.

Jon Warshawsky was driving his vintage Porsche 356A Speedster on March 27 2016 with his life partner 43-year-old Amanda Walzer on the 11200 block of Pomerado Road on he east end of Scripps Ranch when a Toyota Corolla driven by then 34-year-old Hyun Choi jumped the center median and slammed head first into the Porsche. Walzer died from her injuries days later. Warshawsky was left permanently disabled with a brain injury.

The driver of the Corolla, Choi, who had prior DUI convictions, was unhurt. According to media reports, Choi had smoked marijuana that she purchased at a medical marijuana dispensary minutes before the deadly crash. Her felony jury trial is scheduled for September 22 of this year.

In the April 12 complaint, attorneys for Warshawsky say the City of San Diego is partly to blame for the crash. Among other contributing factors, the attorneys say the section of road had poor visibility, inadequate signage, dangerous sloping, problems with drainage and the design of the median.

The poor median design, the attorneys contend, popped Choi's left front tire, creating drag which forced her car to launch over the median and into the opposite side of traffic.

"[The location was] in such a dangerous and unsafe condition at the time of the [accident], that if remedied, the serious injuries to [Warshawsky] and the death of his passenger could have been prevented," reads the complaint filed in state court.

According to the complaint, the city had been notified of dangerous conditions near the intersection before the collision occurred but did not take corrective action. (The Reader has submitted a Public Records Request to the city for any complaints regarding the stretch of road and is awaiting the response).

The complaint estimate damages suffered by Warshawsky are in excess of $6 million dollars.