Just around lunchtime on Nov. 21, 2024, 18-year-old Kephas Pope waited in the dirt median between the Domicilio Apartments, where he lived, and Santa Clara University’s (SCU) main campus, waiting to cross El Camino Real. He would never make it across.
While Pope waited to walk his bike the rest of the way across the six-lane road, Jonathan Drake drove his BMW onto the median, crashing into a tree. As it toppled, the uprooted tree struck Pope in the head, killing him.
Consequently, the family of the SCU sophomore is suing those it believes are responsible for Pope’s death. The family alleges the situation was “entirely predictable” and the conditions along that stretch of El Camino Real are “deadly,” according to court documents filed at the end of June.
The complaint names Drake, Santa Clara County, the City of Santa Clara, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) and the developer and manager of Pope’s apartment complex — Sobrato and Greystar. Among the nine complaints are several allegations of negligence, dangerous conditions on public property and wrongful death.
“El Camino Real has long been known to be among the deadliest roads in the San Francisco Bay Area for pedestrians,” according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs point to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing the stretch of El Camino Real that runs through Santa Clara County had 58 fatalities from 2002 to 2022, making it the third deadliest in the region.
El Camino Real constitutes a “dangerous condition” because it has a high volume of traffic, according to the plaintiffs, who are represented by Dana Taschner, whose Los Angeles-based law firm was ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report in 2022.
A “significant curve” in the area limits visibility. That, coupled with its lack of warning signs and speed calming measures such as raised crosswalks or speed bumps, makes the stretch particularly treacherous for the high concentration of pedestrians near SCU, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that the developer and manager of the apartment complex where Pope lived are culpable.
Work crews at Domicilio Apartments used a Genie “Xtra Capacity” boom lift to paint and perform maintenance at the complex. They parked the lift in one of the lanes of El Camino Real, creating a bottleneck. The obstruction, according to the complaint, prevented Pope from using a nearby crosswalk.
Additionally, the complainants allege that Greystar failed to obtain the property permits from the city and CalTrans.
Further, they cite a 2016 SCU senior thesis. El Camino Real’s high-volume traffic means it “can be dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists,” according to the paper.
Despite knowing this, the plaintiffs claim, the city, county and CalTrans “failed to take any actions to eliminate and/or reduce the known significant risk and danger.”
The family — Pope’s father, mother and sister — is demanding a jury trial. Court documents do not list how much money the family is seeking. The court has not set a trial date.
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
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