City of San Diego named in wrongful death lawsuit after bicyclist dies

SAN DIEGO — Old Town used to be a place Denice Simmons loved to visit.

Now, she rarely ever goes.

“I remember this place as the place my dad ultimately had his demise,” said Simmons, holding her baby while she stood on the sidewalk off of Congress Street.

Next to her is a driveway to a small parking lot. Signs above the spaces partially read “Customer parking only.”

There is only one way in and out for cars in the parking lot.

This was the road where Simmons’s dad, Marc Woolf, was riding his bike on his way home from work on May 5, 2021, when a car backed out of the lot and hit Woolf.

Woolf was thrown into the other lane upon impact, where another car hit him in the road.

After the collision, Woolf was bedridden for more than one year.

Now, Simmons is suing the City of San Diego, among others, for wrongful death after Woolf died in September of 2022.

According to the lawsuit, the collision caused “serious injury and ultimately death.”

Simmons remembers her father as someone whose happiness stemmed from being active.

“What would bring him joy is – Hey, I was able to twitch my finger today. Whereas, it used to be – Hey, I was able to swim all the way out to the buoy in Pacific Beach,” said Simmons.

Simmon’s attorney on the case, Joseph Dicks, told ABC 10News reporter Natalie Chuck the City of San Diego has a responsibility to ensure the area of Congress Street and San Diego Avenue is safe, seeing as the street has a designated bike lane.

“You’ve gotta do more than just lay a couple stencils on the road. You’ve got to account for the lighting, you’ve got to account for the encroachments, the signage,” said Dicks.

The lawsuit says the city ““Had notice of the dangerous condition for a long enough time to have protected against it.”

An attorney for the city said they cannot comment, citing pending litigation.

Among the defendants is the parking lot’s property owners.

A response from the property owners to the wrongful death lawsuit filed in court says Marc “knew of the danger and risk associated with his undertaking, but despite such knowledge, he freely and voluntarily assumed and exposed himself to all risk of harm and consequential injuries and damages.”

A hearing is scheduled for December 8th.