Blind Woman Struck by Car Receives $200,000 Settlement

Cannot see

The Star-Ledger reports today that a settlement has been reached for the blind Morristown, NJ woman who was hit by a car two years ago.  Chistina Brino was walking her seeing eye dog when she was hit by a Morris county employee driving a county-issued car.  The employee, a former assistant prosecutor, made a right hand turn outside of the county courthouse, of all places, when he struck Brino, fracturing her kneecap and dislocating her knee.  The dog was uninjured.

This news hits close to home for lawyer.com, which is located in Morris County.  The Seeing Eye, the oldest guide dog training center in the world, is headquartered in Morristown, and their dogs come primarily from a breeding center in nearby Chester.  It’s not uncommon to encounter the young dogs in training around Morristown.  Being a small city, the dogs learn all they need about crossing streets and the danger of traffic.  In fact, there’s a statue of a Seeing Eye dog and trainer in the middle of the main thoroughfare.  So, a 20-year county prosecutor must have been aware of the abundance of training dogs in the city, which makes this accident all the more unfortunate.