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# Elderly woman sues City Hall over bus accident
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/elderly-woman-sues-city-hall-over-bus-accident/
- Published: 2003-08-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:41:27.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Montana, #archive-import

*City Hall: Bus passenger should have held onto bar*

The trial began this week in the case of an elderly woman who blames City Hall for causing her injuries when she fell while riding a Big Blue Bus last year.

Olive Karony, 85, of Santa Monica, broke her hip and femur last July while riding on the No. 3 bus from the local YMCA to her Montana Avenue home.

During opening arguments on Wednesday, Karony told a Santa Monica jury through her attorneys that bus driver Victor Sanchez of Palmdale, accelerated too quickly before she had a chance to sit and as a result she fell down.

But City Hall denies responsibility for the accident.

Deputy City Attorney Norman Hirata argued Karony already was seated and decided to stand up just before Sanchez hit the gas. City Hall claims it’s Karony’s own fault that she fell.

“A bus has to move,” Hirata said. “You have to anticipate that a bus is going to move. All Mrs. Karony had to do was hang onto a bar or a railing and this accident never would have happened.”

> “All Mrs. Karony had to do was hang onto a bar or a railing and this accident never would have happened.” — — NORMAN HIRATA Deputy City Attorney

Daniel McGee, one of Karony’s attorneys, told jurors that Karony was put in harm’s way because of a negligent driver, poor training and virtually nonexistent supervision. He said Karony should be reimbursed for $70,000 in medical bills, plus an unspecified amount for pain and suffering.

“Before she could sit down, the bus suddenly lurched forward and she fell down,” he said. “The bus driver was careless. But more importantly, the city of Santa Monica failed that bus driver.”

Hirata said Sanchez did wait for Karony to sit down, but Karony suddenly got up before the bus took off, apparently after she saw a friend on the bus.

Regardless, Hirata said Sanchez was under no obligation to wait for Karony to sit before continuing on his route.

“The only time you have to... wait for someone to sit down on your bus is if you’re disabled... or if you have special needs,” he said. “Mrs. Karony was neither.”

Once she fell, the bus stopped and paramedics brought Karony to St. John’s Hospital where she stayed for a week. She was then transferred to a nearby convalescent home where she spent three weeks being rehabilitated.

Before the accident, McGee said Karony was independent and energetic, working out three times a week and traveling around town on her own. Since the accident, McGee said Karony requires the assistance of a caregiver.

“Her spirit has changed,” he said. But Hirata attributed Karony’s health problems to variety of other factors, including a heart attack she suffered since the bus accident.

Karony retired in 1982 and moved to Santa Monica to be with her family in 2000\. She has two daughters, two grand-children and two great-grandchildren.

Gloria Keeling, one of her daughters, sat in the courtroom immediately behind her mother during opening statements. She said afterwards that Karony, who now walks with a cane, was exhausted by the court proceedings.

The trial, which is being heard by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Lorna Parnell, is expected to last seven days. It will include testimony from medical and other experts, Karony’s family members, as well as two residents of Australia who were on the bus and testified via satellite. Chamber questions City Hall on its operations, spending

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 8, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080803.pdf?ref=smdp.com)