CARY -- The parents of a 16-year-old car crash victim filed a lawsuit against the town of Cary for wrongful death, seeking financial damages and alleging that the town failed to maintain a safe roadway.
Frances Greene and Robby Birdsong say that the town negligently failed to install a traffic signal at the west Cary intersection where their daughter, Kailee, died in a June 2009 crash, according to the lawsuit.
Kailee Birdsong was riding in the front-seat of a Lexus SUV driven by her stepmother, Melissa Kay Birdsong, 29. The car was traveling north on Green Level to Durham Road just before 1 p.m. June 22 when, Melissa Birdsong said, she swerved to avoid hitting a beige van at the intersection with Cary Glen Boulevard. Birdsong told police she lost control of the Lexus and the car overturned several times.
Kailee Birdsong, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car. She was pronounced dead at Duke Hospital.
Her death sparked an outcry in the community, where protests led the town and the Department of Transportation to install a traffic light at the intersection two months later.
The lawsuit, filed June 22, alleges that the town failed to maintain the intersection to Federal Highway Administration standards because it didn't install a traffic signal, erect appropriate warning signs and abide by laws, rules and regulations governing traffic lights.
It seeks financial damages in excess of $10,000.
Cary spokeswoman Susan Moran said wrongful death lawsuits are rare for the town. Neither she nor the town's attorney could recall a similar case in the past 15 years.
"This was a very sad tragedy for the community, and our hearts go out to the family," Moran said.
Moran said the intersection is owned by the state transportation department but the town was contractually obligated to maintain it.
She said the town strives "to meet or exceed all applicable traffic safety standards."
Investigators never filed charges related to the wreck.
The lawsuit alleges that the Lexus collided with the beige van. But a search for the beige van didn't produce results.
"The traffic safety team was unable to conclusively identify the cause or assign responsibility," Moran said.
