The family of a 3-year-old Wichita boy who was run over and killed at a McDonald’s restaurant drive-through lane last year has filed a wrongful death suit against the company that owns the restaurant and McDonald’s Corp.
Cody Schuber was killed on Feb. 15, 2007, when he walked out of the restaurant at 1645 S. Webb and stepped into the path of a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup.
The lawsuit said the accident occurred in a “blind spot” where the design of the restaurant and an attached indoor play area make it impossible for drivers and pedestrians to see one another.
The lawsuit said the accident occurred as Cody was trying to catch up with his twin brother, Cade, as they were leaving with their grandparents.
Less than a year before Cody’s death, an accident in the same spot resulted in a broken leg for a 2-year-old boy who ran into the side of a van that was traveling through the drive-through lane, the lawsuit said.
Wichita lawyer Larry Wall, who filed the lawsuit Friday in Sedgwick County District Court, said the restaurant was negligent because it removed speed bumps that had once slowed parking lot traffic. He also said the owner refused to install signs warning motorists and pedestrians about the blind spot and that faded paint made it had for drivers to see the crosswalk where Cody was run over.
McDonald’s franchisee Roy McCalla said in a statement that it would be inappropriate to comment on the lawsuit.
“Most important, my deepest sympathies remain with the Schuberfamily and friends over this tragic accident,” he said in the statement.
Wall said McDonald’s Corp. had a duty to inspect and monitor the operations of its restaurants.
The lawsuit seeks in excess of $75,000 in damages each for Cody Schuber, for his twin brother and for the 2-year-old whose leg was broken in the 2006 accident.