UPDATED: Alice Zhang's Parents File $5M Claim Against City

Alice Zhang's parents have filed a $5 million claim against the city of Arcadia, saying the crosswalk their child was in when she was has a dangerous history and should have been addressed, according to a report in the Pasadena Star-News.

David Casselman, the parents' attorney, told the Star-News that the crosswalk at the 600 block of West Duarte Road has been "dangerous for a long time."

Bowen Du, a 19-year-old Arcadia resident, was the driver of the 1997 Lexus that struck Zhang and her friend. He to a charge of vehicular manslaughter on Tuesday, June 28, and is expected to appear in court Tuesday for the setting of his preliminary hearing, according to Evan P. Freed, Du's attorney. 

Arcadia Police have pointed to Du's dirty windshield as  He faces possibly six years in state prison if convicted.

The claim states that Alice and her friend turned on the crosswalk's lighting system before attempting to cross on April 10 at 6:45 p.m. It also points to a December 2004 accident that led to the city's eventually installing a flashing-light system in January 2008.

But the claim also calls the system "experimental" as well as something that "created additional danger, misleading pedestrians to assume that they could safely cross when the lights were flashing." The claim also points to a later traffic incident on November of 2008 as evidence of the city's "failed" experiment. 

"Despite its notice of the dangerous nature of this crosswalk and the increased hazards associated with its experimental lighting, the City did nothing to protect pedestrians," the claim states. "Thereafter, on April 10, 2011, the accident involving Alice Zhang occurred. The driver claimed he was unable to see the flashing light system and failed to stop at this crosswalk. His failure to see or react was directly related to the City failure to install traditional, tested street lighting, which would have been visible and prevented this accident."

The crosswalk has been the catalyst for the "ForAlice Movement", a grassroots effort comprised of some of Zhang's Arcadia High classmates to urge.

"Members of the ForAlice movement support Alice's parents' actions against the crosswalk," wrote Utthara Rameshbabu, one of the founding members of the movement as well as a blogger for Patch, in an email. "As a student-led group, we are still closely following the investigations about the case and will pursue the removal of the crosswalk independently, too."

City Manager Don Penman declined to comment on the claim or the crosswalk's history to Patch.

Matt Burch contributed to this article. 

This article has been updated to include text from the Zhangs' claim, which was sent to Patch, as well as the email from Utthara Rameshbabu of the ForAlice Movement.