Jury awards $8 million to state librarian injured by GRTC bus in 2007

A Richmond jury awarded a research librarian at the Library of Virginia $8 million in damages yesterday, the full amount sought by her lawyers after the woman was struck by a GRTC Transit System bus and severely injured.

Meikiu Lo, now 34, suffered spinal and shoulder damage and multiple hip and pelvis fractures that resulted in chronic pain after a GRTC bus making a right turn struck her as she crossed North Eighth Street beside the library two years ago.

She had waited on the sidewalk and was two-thirds of the way across the street when the bus, making a right turn off East Marshall Street, struck her, her attorney said.

"She is a wonderful person who is a native of Hong Kong and will endure the consequences of the collision for the rest of her life," said lawyer Jason W. Konvicka of the Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen law firm in Richmond.

He said medical evidence in the case established that Lo will likely undergo multiple surgeries for hip replacements before she is 50.

Konvicka said a seven-person jury deliberated one hour in reaching an award in a case where damages were the only issue in a two-day trial. He said that lawyers for GRTC had offered to settle the case for $1.8 million; the driver was fired, he said.

John M. Lewis, GRTC chief executive officer, declined to comment last night, and efforts to reach attorneys for the bus company were unsuccessful.

The decision yesterday will not affect the bus company's fares or balance sheet, Konvicka said, because the award, which could be appealed, is covered by insurance.

But the decision raises difficult prospects for GRTC, which is terminating some routes and is dealing with a recent, high-profile pedestrian collision that occurred almost two years to the day after Lo's injury.

On Sept. 30, Loucendia Reed Lambert, 55, was fatally struck by a GRTC bus as she crossed North 14th Street on her way to work at the Virginia Department of Health.

The bus driver in that case, Teresa L. Jones, 46, of Richmond, faces a hearing next week in Richmond General District Court on a charge of reckless driving in Lambert's death.

No civil actions have been filed in that case.

Konvicka said last night that jurors heard medical testimony in Lo's case that she suffered signs of post-traumatic stress disorder after her injury and that news of Lambert's death caused a renewal of anxiety and emotional stress.

Konvicka said last night that Lo did not attend her trial because of the difficulty she has dealing with what happened to her. He said Lo was introduced to the jury at the beginning of the trial and returned to hear the verdict.

"When we left the courthouse, I walked her up the street. She wanted to get right back to work," he said.

Lo could not be reached for comment last night, but Konvicka said she studied at the University of North Carolina and the State University of New York after coming to the United States.

A friend described her last night as extremely shy. "Her family is still back in China; her mother speaks only Chinese," the friend said.

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or .