Family of student killed at El Campo Road files lawsuit

Almost one year after a Cal Poly student was killed at a notoriously dangerous intersection on Highway 101 near Arroyo Grande, his family is filing a lawsuit in the deadly crash.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court by Jordan Grant’s parents. The 18-year-old Cal Poly student was killed on October 7, 2018, when he was hit by a car that was turning left across Highway 101 at the El Campo Road intersection, just outside of Arroyo Grande city limits.

The family pushed for significant safety changes after the crash and was ultimately successful. In May, Caltrans removed the left-hand turn option at four intersections between Arroyo Grande and Nipomo, including at El Campo Road.

The new lawsuit claims negligence, saying the crash was preventable. It names the State of California, County of San Luis Obispo, City of Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, and Richard Donald Giuli as defendants.

The lawsuit says the various agencies owned, operated, managed, controlled, designed, planned, engineered, maintained, installed, and/or inspected the intersection of El Campo Road and Highway 101.

Giuli was the driver charged in the deadly crash.

In the complaint, the family says the highway wasn’t properly maintained, repaired, operated, or monitored. It says the intersection was lacking proper signage, and that there should have been clear warnings for drivers to slow down. It also says there was bad visibility in the area and that there were inadequate signals and warnings. All of these factors combined to create dangerous conditions, according to the lawsuit.

The intersection was known long before Grant’s death for being dangerous. After he was killed, other people who were injured in crashes at El Campo Road came forward in support of the Grant family and pushed for changes as well.

KCOY spoke with Jordan Grant’s father on Wednesday. “The lawsuit is to ensure that those that failed Jordan by not closing El Campo when they should have in 2008-2011 are held to account and in understanding how and why such failures occurred, they may be prevented from happening to someone else’s Jordan anywhere along 101 where dangerous road conditions exist and have not been corrected,” said James Grant.

The lawsuit says the defendants are liable for the family’s loss of love, companionship, and care. It doesn’t list specific damages, but the lawsuit does seek a jury trial.

On Wednesday, the Grant family also shared photos with our newsroom of the memorial garden that they’ve set up for Jordan at his gravesite in McKinney, Texas. They say they’ve purchased 32 additional grave sites in the area, so they can build a larger garden, which they say “will never be finished.”