Lawyer: Woman hit by Volusia Beach Patrol vehicle to sue
August 11, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH — A 33-year-old Kansas woman run over by a Volusia County Beach Patrol pickup has been released from the hospital, her lawyer said Monday night.
Erin Joynt suffered hearing loss, facial fractures, broken ribs and other injuries July 31 after her head was struck by a front wheel of the county-owned pickup, attorney John M. Phillips of Jacksonville said by telephone.
Joynt was riding with family Monday night on a 20-hour drive back to Wichita, Kan., Phillips said.
Also Monday, in a beach accident involving residents that resulted in the death of a 4-year-old boy in July 2010, Volusia County was served notice that a lawsuit had been filed seeking damages and claiming negligent traffic management, according to court records.
In the accident that sent Joynt to the hospital for about a week, the mother of two was lying on her stomach in the sand when a 21-year-old part-time lifeguard made a right-hand U-turn and hit her.
The county’s beach safety protocol is being revamped in reaction to the accident, with large Beach Patrol pickups no longer expected to patrol the 17 miles of driving beach the way they once did. Joynt was the third beachgoer hit by a county vehicle since June 2010.
Joynt had only been on the beach for two hours when she was hit in front of her 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, her lawyer said.
“The 8-year-old and 5-year-old were coming out of the water when it happened,” Phillips said. “The 8-year-old saw it and turned the smaller one around. She was mature enough to know she didn’t want him to see this.”
Unlike the summer vacation drive the family made to get here, the Joynts have to stop frequently on the way back home because of the pain Joynt is experiencing, he added.
Article: Daytona Beach News Journal
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