City sued in August death of Rochester motorcyclist at downtown intersection

The crash occurred at the intersection of Portland and South Main streets; inset Michael Collins (Courtesy)

ROCHESTER - The estate of Michael D. Collins Sr. - the Rochester motorcyclist struck and killed by another vehicle in downtown Rochester on Aug. 19, has filed a civil lawsuit against the driver, the City of Rochester and Electric Light Company of Inc. of Cape Neddick, Maine.

The lawsuit. brought by Collins' son, Michael Collins Jr., seeks "recovery and accountability for the purported wrongful death," according to a statement sent to The Rochester Voice on Tuesday. The suit was filed on Tuesday in Strafford Superior Court, according to a press release prepared by Regan Communications Group.

Kimberlee Lynn Raymond, 22, of Rochester, was the driver of the car that struck Collins. Electric Light Company Inc was operating as Electric Signal Repair, the contracted light repair vendor, according to a press release from the law firm through Regan Communications.

The Rochester Voice has written numerous articles about the accident, which, according to witnesses and police reports, occurred while the downtown stoplights at the corner of South Main and Portland streets were blinking instead of solid as they are intended to be. The litigation is being brought by Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah Trial Attorneys, who in the complaint, allege that "while Collins approached a four-way intersection from South Main Street, he met a malfunctioning traffic light that bore a flashing yellow signal while the motorist, Raymond, approached the intersection from Portland Street which bore a red flashing signal. Raymond failed to yield the right of way to Collins, striking his motorcycle which caused him to fall to the ground and become pinned beneath Raymond's vehicle."

The filing alleges that Raymond operated her vehicle "carelessly and negligently with Collins tragically dying as a result of the collision."

The lawsuit further claims that the traffic light in question was operating in "safety mode" where a light that normally produces solid red, yellow and green traffic signals has a system failure and instead yields blinking colors. According to Tuesday's statement, Police Officers reported as early as 10 a.m. on the day of the incident - more than nine hours before the fatal incident - of the malfunctioning traffic light.

As The Rochester Voice earlier reported, dispatchers informed officers that Rochester's Department of Public Works would be notified. The city's DPW contracts with Electric Light Company to maintain downtown stoplights.

"The City of Rochester and the Electric Light Company failed to respond adequately to a malfunctioning traffic light at an intersection already known to be dangerous, and it ended up costing Mr. Collins his life," said lead attorney Christopher J. Gavrielidis of Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah. "Mr. Collins operated his motorcycle prudently, but Ms. Raymond was entirely reckless in operating her own vehicle. The family of Mr. Collins wants and needs answers on how this could have happened. There is a shared accountability by multiple parties here, and we intend to ensure justice is delivered to bring Mr. Collins' family and friends some semblance of closure."

An invoice from Electric Light Co. that maintains Rochester's downtown traffic lights indicates that work was done on a malfunctioning stoplight at the corner of South Main and Portland streets on Aug. 19, the same day that Collins was killed at the intersection.
The invoice was obtained by The Rochester Voice following a Right to Know request filed with the City of Rochester in December.

The service date on the invoice is accurate, according to a technician who told The Voice in January that they worked on the light on Aug. 19 and that it was fixed "before dusk," however, the lawsuit notes that "Electric provided maintenance/repairs to the traffic signal at the subject intersection at approximately 10:30 p.m. on August 19," a couple of hours after the deadly crash occurred.
Collins, 54, of Rochester, died when his 2010 Harley Davidson FLHTC collided with a 2016 Toyota Corolla being driven by Raymond, of Rochester, around 7:40 p.m,
Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham revealed on Sept. 18 that after a monthlong investigation police had verified what witnesses to the crash had said: that the lights for South Main Street traffic were blinking yellow, while Portland Street was blinking red.
According to police, Collins was traveling on South Main Street headed north toward Central Square, while the Toyota had turned from Charles Street onto Portland Street by the Service Credit Union drive-thru and was headed straight through the light to continue on Portland Street in the direction of Windjammers restaurant.
Pinkham also confirmed that stoplights for South Main Street traffic were blinking yellow, while the Portland Street traffic were blinking red, indicating Collins had the right of way.
The City of Rochester including Rochester Police have said since the accident occurred they can have no comment since a criminal investigation into the crash remains open. Police have also refused to comment on why the investigation has dragged on after more than six months.
The Rochester Voice has also asked for documents regarding the contract between the City of Rochester and Electric Light Co. Inc. but City Attorney Terence O'Rourke said there is none, because the city's Request for Proposal serves as the de facto contract.
O'Rourke also has confirmed that there were no emails regarding the malfunctioning light between DPW staff, City Manager Katie Ambrose and any other City of Rochester personnel.
Documents earlier obtained by The Rochester Voice show that the stoplights at the intersection of Portland and South Main streets were reported blinking around 11 a.m. on Aug. 19, more than eight hours before the fatal crash.
A couple of minutes after the first caller notified police of the malfunction another caller into dispatch said the lights were blinking and it will "cause an accident."
Later, around 1:40 p.m. Rochester's DPW advises police dispatch that the lights will remain in flashing mode till the "light company" can come out to fix them.
The stoplights are normally solid, not blinking; police dispatch notes indicate that the malfunction was due to an electrical issue.
The state DOT maintains most traffic lights throughout New Hampshire but several cities, including Rochester, manage their own downtown stoplights, a DOT official said.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to decide the case.