East Hampton Settles Lawsuit Over Bicycle Accident For $2.5 Million

In the same week that two bicyclists were killed on South Fork roads, East Hampton Town agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle on Springy Banks Road in 2010, for $2.5 million.

The East Hampton Town Board approved the settlement, which the town will only have to pay $25,000 of, with the rest covered by its liability insurance, last Thursday, July 7 — the day after an 11-year-old was struck and killed on Town Line Road and four days after a 70-year-old man was killed while biking on Montauk Highway in Napeague.

The lawsuit stemmed from a 2010 accident in which a man riding his bike on Springy Banks Road was struck by a car that had just turned onto the road from Three Mile Harbor Road. The lawsuit blamed the town for the accident, in part, claiming that a crosswalk the bicyclist was using was not clearly marked and was in an inherently dangerous location.

The bicyclist’s name was Robert Hornbuckle, and he was hit by a car driven by Tyler Hannibal, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Hornbuckle family, Robert Hornbuckle was riding his bike across Springy Banks Road within a crosswalk painted about 100 feet north of the intersection with Three Mile Harbor Road when he was struck.

Hornbuckle, an electrician and father of two who was in his early 40s at the time of the accident, suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones that left him in a coma for more than a month and incapacitated for the rest of his life. He died of cancer in 2020, according to his attorney, John Nash.

The lawsuit filed in 2010 alleges that the town was negligent for having painted the crosswalk in an unsafe location and failed to provide adequate signage warning drivers that they were approaching a crosswalk.

At deposition, Hannibal stated that he lived near the accident site and had driven the road many times. He had been traveling north on Three Mile Harbor Road at about 40 mph, but had slowed down slightly to negotiate the left turn onto Springy Banks, the lawsuit recounts, and then saw Hornbuckle starting to ride into the crosswalk.

“At the time his vehicle was one or two vehicle lengths from the plaintiff,” the lawsuit details from Hannibal’s deposition. “He testified that he applied his brakes and turned his wheel to the right.”

The car skidded, turning broadside and striking Hornbuckle and then a tree.

Attorneys for the town and Hannibal argued that Hornbuckle was responsible for the accident because he did not yield to oncoming traffic on the roadway.

In 2019, a judge in the case released Suffolk County as a defendant in the lawsuit — the plaintiffs had claimed the county should have had a lower speed limit on Three Mile Harbor Road — but would not dismiss the lawsuit against the town.

According to the settlement, Hannibal’s insurance company will also pay the Hornbuckle family $250,000.

The Springy Banks Road crosswalk is now proceeded by two yellow warning signs to motorists turning off Three Mile Harbor Road.