$5M Award for Family of Woman Hit and Killed by SMART Bus

TROY, MI – The family of a Troy woman who was struck and killed by a SMART bus was awarded $5 million in damages by an Oakland County jury last week,

Sally LaMay, 37, was in a marked crosswalk when she was hit by the bus that turned on a yellow flashing light in November 2014, her family’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, said Tuesday in a news release announcing the verdict.

LaMay had two young children, Mekenna, 15, and Julian, 11, who were in the Oakland County Chief Circuit Judge Nanci Grant’s courtroom when the verdict was read Friday.

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Fieger, who said the $5 million judgment was the largest awarded by an Oakland County Circuit Court jury this year, said the jury found that LaMay suffered after she was struck, an assertion SMART — the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation — denied.

“I was absolutely outraged by the refusal of SMART to acknowledge that she suffered, the refusal to come forward and pay reasonable damages and the arrogance of SMART,” Fieger said, according to a report in The Detroit News.

The children’s father did not wish to speak with the media about the verdict, Fieger said.

Police have said the SMART driver, James Maholmes, was returning to a terminal when LeMay was struck in the intersection of Maplelawn and Crooks. Maholmes was subsequently fired, and he died on Jan. 5.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Sally LaMay and all involved in this unfortunate accident,” John Hertel, general manager of SMART, said in a statement. “We appreciate the deliberations of the jury and their efforts in rendering a very serious decision.”

It’s unclear if SMART will appeal.

Beth Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the suburban bus service, told The Detroit News that “as with all legal cases, SMART is considering its options.”