RIVERSIDE, Calif. () — The family of a 28-year-old man who was hit and run over by a Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) bus last November has filed a claim for damages against the agency for $28.5 million.
Chibeza Dudley Nyirenda Jr. was struck while he was attempting to board the bus, according to the family’s attorney. The claim alleges the bus driver failed to follow the required training in accounting for the presence of a boarding passenger.
At the time of the incident, the Riverside Police Department said the victim entered the roadway from the sidewalk and “positioned himself in front of the bus as the bus was pulling away from a bus stop along the curb.”
“Bus drivers are trained for circumstances such as these, when passengers are either running to get on the bus, or trying to step on the bus,” said Carl Douglas, the Nyirenda family’s attorney. “One of the issues we hope to examine in our quest for justice is to understand exactly what was going on at the moment Chibeza Nyirenda Jr., a 28-year-old Black man, was struck and killed.”
Nyirenda was on the phone with his mother at the time of the incident.
“Though his last three words were ‘I love you,’ our next word will be ‘justice,'” Douglas said. “It is our hope that we can eliminate the times when other families have to go through the pain of this family due to the negligence of others.”
With the filing of the wrongful death claim, the Riverside Transit Agency has 45 days to respond with an out-of-court settlement offer. If no agreement is reached, a civil wrongful death lawsuit will move forward.
“Imagine, whenever someone hears that the family is seeking a number like $28.5 million, the first thought out of your mid is, ‘Gee whiz, something really bad must have happened.’ You’re right. Something really bad did happen, and this family is seeking justice to find out why,” Douglas said.
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