O'side man sues DOT for $5 million

An Oceanside man who was hit by a car while riding a bike on the bike path that runs along the northbound side of the Wantagh Parkway in 2007 is suing New York state for $5 million, his lawyer said.

Jeff Litman, an attorney representing Joel Rubin, who sustained serious injuries when he was struck by the car, which ran off the parkway onto the path in June 2007, said his client filed suit this June — a month before 19-year-old Matthew Scarpati of Dix Hills was killed by a motorcycle that ran off the road onto the same path. "He's suing the state of New York for having defective maintenance, or lack thereof, of guardrails," Litman said of Rubin, adding that a notice of claims was filed in September 2007.

The state Department of Transportation was scheduled to begin work on the Wantagh Parkway on Tuesday, permanently closing four miles of the northbound right traffic lane to motorists and installing a rumble strip to provide an audible warning when drivers are too close to the path. The DOT also plans to install flexible tubular posts along the curves near the Goose Creek Bridge and Island Creek Bridge.

The bike path, which runs beside the Wantagh from Cedar Creek Park in Seaford to Jones Beach, already has guardrails on the three bridges it crosses, in accordance with the standards of the American Association of State Highway Officials. But public pressure to install a guardrail that runs the entire length of the path has increased since Scarpati was killed by an allegedly drunk and speeding driver on July 20.

Thousands of people have signed petitions calling for the guardrail, and more than 2,000 have joined a Facebook group called “Guard Rail for Wantagh Parkway Bike Path.” State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) and Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R-Merrick) have jointly reached out to Gov. David Paterson for support on the issue, and met with DOT officials and the Scarpati family to discuss enhancing safety features on the bike path.

An earlier DOT investigation into the installation of a guardrail was abandoned after a 2006 court decision stemming from a 2002 accident that occurred when cyclists William Dhal and his 7-year-old daughter Alexandra were hit by a motorcycle on the bike path. The state Court of Claims found that “Claimants failed to prove that a guiderail was required to separate bicycle path from State Parkway.”

The accidents involving Rubin, Scarpati and the Dahls are the only ones in which motorists have collided with bike path users since 2002, according to state police.

Rubin said he had never ridden on the bike path before his fateful 2007 ride. “We wanted to go to a new place to go bicycle riding other than the boardwalk,” he said. But after about 15 minutes, he said, a car full of teenage girls who he believed were on their way home from the beach drove onto the path and hit him.

Rubin said he suffered a cracked pelvis, a pierced artery, a broken femur, head trauma and two severely bruised vertebrae. He spent three months at Nassau University Medical Center and one month in a separate rehabilitation facility, he said.

Jennifer Post, a DOT spokeswoman, said the department had no comment on the lawsuit.

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