The widow of a retired California nurse killed by a school bus in March has filed a lawsuit against Poway Unified School District.
Cindy Steiner is suing the district after her husband, Rene Steiner, 69, died from injuries sustained when a district bus struck him while he walked his dogs in the Rancho Peñasquitos neighborhood of northeastern San Diego on March 10. The driver, Richard Kraft, 76, now faces a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge.
“Our family is forever changed by the loss of Rene. No family should have to go through this. We hope that by coming forward, we can make sure someone answers for what happened and that carrying on as usual without taking action is simply not an option,” Cindy said in a statement earlier this year.
Rene was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla following the collision. He was treated for a skull fracture, subdural hematoma, multiple rib fractures, and bilateral pulmonary contusion. He died from his injuries on March 28, eighteen days after the crash.
A San Diego Police officer in the area stopped and performed CPR on Steiner until paramedics arrived.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys at Singleton Schreiber, alleges systemic problems with district bus operations. Court documents claim a neighbor’s ring camera captured moments before the accident, showing Steiner walking with his two dogs on Paseo Montalban and Via Cima Bella while the bus was allegedly speeding down Via Cima Bella. The family attorneys also allege that Kraft failed to make a complete stop at the intersection and turned right onto Paseo Montalban.
“His death was preventable, and his family deserves accountability,” Domenic Martini, Senior Counsel at Singleton Schreiber, said in a statement.
Martini expanded on the case’s broader implications in an interview with the Times of San Diego. “Our lawsuit is about getting justice for Rene and Cindy Steiner, but it’s also about changing Poway Unified policies that encourage bus drivers to take shortcuts through small neighborhood streets,” he told the outlet.
The lawsuit claims Poway Unified has a documented history of bus-related traffic problems. According to the filing, there have been 118 documented incidents in Rancho Peñasquitos and Sabre Springs since 2019, including several outside standard school transportation hours. “A number of those incidents occurred during midday, evening, and pre-dawn hours, including periods outside regular student transportation times,” the lawsuit alleged.
Kraft was also fined for failing to yield to a pedestrian within a crosswalk. His next court date is scheduled for October 27.