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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Saturday, June 4, 2005

State settles over girl's death

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

The parents of a 16-year-old Campbell High School honors student killed when struck by a car while crossing Fort Weaver Road in 2002 have obtained a $500,000 out-of-court settlement from the state.

The insurance company for the car's driver has already paid the parents the full policy limit of $300,000.

Marilene Bacani was hit July 9, 2002, in the crosswalk near two bus stops and the Child & Family Services Center as she was on her way to do volunteer work at Campbell High.

The parents, Alberto and Isabelita Bacani, later gave then-Gov. Ben Cayetano a petition signed by 2,000 people asking for improvements to make the crosswalk safer.

Since then, a pedestrian-activated traffic light was installed, said Honolulu lawyer Daniel Morris, who, along with James Bickerton, represented the parents. In addition, the area was designated as a school zone, reducing the speed limit from 45 to 35 miles per hour, Morris said.

The family "is grateful that the state has acknowledged its responsibility to protect pedestrians, particularly in areas with growing populations and increasing traffic volumes," Morris said. "The settlement shows that the state understands the problem."

Morris said the parents agreed to the settlement over the death of their only child because of the "corrective measures" that the state adopted to prevent another tragedy.

The Legislature recently approved the amount of settlements against the state, including this one, and Gov. Linda Lingle signed the measure.

"We believed that settling this case in this amount would be in the best interests of the state," Bridget Palmer Holthus, special assistant to the attorney general, said.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.