MTA Loses Suit To Injured Cliffie

A Radcliffe freshman was awarded almost $100,000 in damages yesterday for injuries received when she was struck by a Metropolitan Transit Authority bus.

Christine R. Mercier '66, was hit while riding her bicycle on Quincy St. on Nov. 9, 1962.

She spent three months in Mt. Auburn Hospital and one in Stillman Infirmary recovering from a pelvic fracture and various complications. She took the rest of the year off to recuperate, and returned to Radcliffe as a freshman this fall.

In two separate suits entered in September, Miss Mercier's mother asked $35,000 for medical expenses and, in Miss Mercier's name, $300,000 for "pain and suffering."

The prosecution's case rested partially on a claim substantiated by witnesses that the bus traveling approximate in 25 m.p.h. what it hit Miss Mercier. The driver estimated his speed at four to five m.p.h. MTA busses have no speedometers. No attempt was made, however, to claim punitive damages.

The defense suggested, but did not prove, that Miss Mercier might have been negligent herself. According to Miss Mercier, they also suggested that she might have been struck by something other than the bus "one of the parked cars, for instance."