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$2 Million Settlement Reached In Pedestrian Wrongful Death Lawsuit

HONESDALE — A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached in a wrongful death case involving a pedestrian who was struck and killed in Wayne County. ...
malti

HONESDALE -- A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached in a wrongful death case involving a pedestrian who was struck and killed in Wayne County.

The family of Ruth Ann Malti of Honesdale was planning to sue several parties for her death in 2011.

It was at the intersection of Church and 7th Streets in Honesdale that Ruth Ann Malti was fatally injured in March 2011.

Malti was walking across Church Street in a crosswalk on March 22 when she was hit by a pickup truck driven by William Joseph.

The impact sent her to the pavement where she struck her head; she died days later at the hospital.

Now attorneys for her family say they reached a $2.05 million settlement for her death.

People in Honesdale spoke with Newswatch 16 and say the family deserves that money.

“It's never too much for a life, let's put it that way, it's never too much for a life,” said Ethel Conley.

Attorneys Daniel and Julia Munley filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit for the family against those who they say are responsible.

Named in that suit were:

  • William Joseph, the driver who struck Malti,
  • PennDOT,
  • the borough of Honesdale,
  • and Borton-Lawson, Leeward Construction and Parsons-Brinckerhoff, LCC; the engineers and construction companies who planned that one-way street configuration.

The attorneys say that crosswalk was placed directly in front of drivers turning left off of 7th Street and onto Church Street, creating an extremely dangerous place for pedestrians.

“They had a driver who was forced to look to his right while turning left and they left the crosswalk where pedestrians were going to cross the street on his left hand side, so he would be looking right and turning left,” said Daniel Munley.

In 2011 the crosswalk was located on the left side of the intersection where Ruth Ann Malti was walking when the driver turned left then struck her. Now the crosswalk has been moved to the other side of the intersection. The attorneys for her family say that is a much safer spot for pedestrians.

“The Malti family takes great solace in the fact that there has been an enormous amount of change toward pedestrian safety in Honesdale.

The civil suit was set to go to trial next month; that will not happen now that there is a settlement.

Calls to the parties named in the civil suit were not returned.

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