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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

USERS WHO HAVE HEARING, SPEECH, OR MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS:

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.

IT MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS.

THIS NOTICE RELATES TO AN EXPANDED SETTLEMENT CLASS

OF ALL LOS ANGELES COUNTY FREEWAY USERS WHO HAVE HEARING,

SPEECH, AND/OR MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS, AND TO A PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AND CLAIMS ASSERTED THEREIN.

This notice is given pursuant to an order of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, California (the "Court"). The purpose of the notice is to advise you that the above-entitled action (the "Action") is now pending in the Court and that plaintiffs Carol Ann Wright, Mona Thalheimer, Michelle Weiss and Jonathan Weiss, on their own behalf and on behalf of all other similarly situated California residents who use or may in the future use Los Angeles County freeways and have hearing or speech impairments, and/or mobility impairments (collectively "Plaintiffs") and defendants Los Angeles Service Authority For Freeway Emergencies ("LA SAFE"); the State of California, Department of Transportation ("Caltrans"); Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ("MTA"), and California Highway Patrol ("CHP") (collectively "Defendants") have reached settlements which would fully, finally, and forever resolve the Action, on the terms and conditions summarized in this notice.

This notice is not intended to be and should not be construed as an expression of any opinion by the Court with respect to the truth of the allegations in the Action or the merits of the claims or defenses asserted. This notice is merely to advise you of the pendency and proposed settlement of the Action and of your rights thereunder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION

On September 30, 1994, Plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court (the "Action") against LA SAFE, Caltrans, and CHP. On September 25, 1997, Plaintiffs amended their complaint to add MTA as a defendant.

The Action alleges that persons who have hearing, speech and/or mobility impairments have been denied equal access to use of the thousands of emergency call boxes located on Los Angeles County freeways (the "Call Boxes") in violation of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA"),^/ the federal Rehabilitation Act,^/ and the state Unruh Act.^/

Among other things, the Action seeks to require Defendants to equip the Call Boxes with telecommunication devices for those persons with hearing and speech impairments ("TTY's"), and to make the Call Boxes accessible to motorists with mobility impairments.

For purposes of settling and compromising the Action, Plaintiffs entered into a proposed settlement with LA SAFE, MTA, and Caltrans on March 23, 1999 ("the LA SAFE Agreement"), and a separate proposed settlement with CHP on April 8, 1999 ("the CHP Agreement").

On June 27, 1996, the Court defined two subclasses as follows:

1. The "Hearing/Speech-Impaired Subclass" shall consist of all Californians: (1) who are deaf or have hearing or speech impairments; (2) whose deafness, hearing or speech impairments prevents them from using the emergency call boxes on Los Angeles County freeways; and (3) who have used such freeways in the past or are reasonably likely to use such freeways in the future.

2. The "Wheelchair User Subclass" shall consist of all Californians: (1) who use wheelchairs for ambulation; (2) whose use of wheelchairs prevents them from using the emergency call boxes on Los Angeles County freeways; and (3) who have used such freeways in the past or are reasonably likely to use such freeways in the future. (Emphasis added)

On May 11, 1999, the Court expanded the Wheelchair User subclass into a "Mobility Impaired Subclass" that includes people whose disability impairs their ability to walk, as follows:

2. The "Mobility Impaired Subclass" shall consist of all Californians: (1) whose disability impairs their ability to walk; (2) whose disability thereby prevents them from using, or makes it more difficult for them to use, the emergency call boxes on Los Angeles County freeways; and (3) who have used such freeways in the past or are reasonably likely to use such freeways in the future.

The Mobility Impaired Subclass is a "non-opt out" class. Members of a non-opt class do not have the right to refuse to participate in the class. The Court has found that the interests of the non-opt out members are adequately represented by the class representatives who share a common interest in obtaining physical access to the Call Boxes for the mobility impaired. Non-opt class members do have the right to object, in the manner specified below, to the terms of the proposed settlements if they believe that the settlement is not in their interests.

DEFINITIONS

(1) "Settlement Class," "Members of the Settlement Class, and "Settlement Class Members" means all persons who are members of the Hearing/Speech-Impaired Subclass or the Mobility Impaired Subclass.

(2) "Released Persons" means each Defendant and its respective successors, attorneys, accountants and representatives.

(3) "Settled Claims" means all claims, debts, liabilities, demands, obligations, promises, acts, agreements, and expenses (including costs and attorney’s fees), damages, actions and causes of action, of whatever kind or nature based on, arising out of, or in connection with Defendants’ alleged failure, through the date of final settlement approval, to provide access to Call Boxes in Los Angeles County.

THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

The following description of the proposed settlements is only a summary. For a full statement of their provisions, reference is made to the text of the LA SAFE Agreement and of the CHP Agreement, which are on file with the Court and which may also be viewed at LA SAFE's website, www.mta.net/safe.

(1) LA SAFE will make the Call Boxes accessible to motorists who are deaf or who have hearing and/or speech impairments by installing TTYs for use with the Call Boxes;

(2) To make the Call Boxes accessible to persons with mobility impairments, LA SAFE will spend up to $7.5 million to construct modifications to the Call Boxes. This sum, in the opinion of plaintiffs' experts, will be sufficient to make at least the vast majority of the Call Boxes physically accessible. At Plaintiffs' request, up to $500,000 of the $7.5 million can be redirected for implementation of a cellular phone program, as described in (5) below;

(3) In addition to the $7.5 million allocated to construction work and/or the cell phone program, LA SAFE will pay an estimated $286,000 for an accessibility study to (a) identify the steps and costs required to make the Call Boxes accessible and (b) generate sufficiently detailed construction drawings to be included in bid documents. Another $15,000 will be available to pay the costs of, inter alia, a representative appointed by Plaintiffs to review the accessibility study. Plaintiffs and LA SAFE will then agree on which Call Boxes should be fixed, selecting those Call Boxes serving the greatest number of people with disabilities, without exceeding the $7.5 million cap;

(4) Representatives of the mobility impaired Plaintiffs and LA SAFE will also discuss in good faith a 9-1-1 cell phone program that would be intended to provide mobility impaired persons with the ability to call for assistance without actually using the Call Boxes. As set forth above, the mobility impaired Plaintiffs have the option of redistributing up to $500,000 of the $7.5 million for use on the cell phone program rather than spending the entire sum on modifications to the Call Boxes, should Plaintiffs so desire;

(5) To the extent required for the cell phone program, if any, and for modifications of the Call Boxes specified in the accessibility study to be made, Caltrans and/or CHP shall expeditiously review for approval the cell phone program, if any, and each and every modification of the Call Boxes specified in the accessibility study, and Caltrans will not charge LA SAFE for necessary permits;

(6) LA SAFE will pay additional sums anticipated to be incurred by Plaintiffs' attorneys and other representatives during the lengthy process of designing and implementing the Call Box modifications. LA SAFE will pay up to $25,000 per year for each of the first two years, and $15,000 per year for each year thereafter;

(7) LA SAFE and CHP agree to certain standards for use in answering TTY calls made from Call Boxes;

(8) Special oversight and dispute resolution procedures are established to monitor and facilitate implementation;

(9) LA SAFE will conduct a community outreach program to notify people with hearing and speech impairments of the TTY program, including placing inserts in Department of Motor Vehicle car registration renewal forms and placing notices at certain government offices. LA SAFE will also implement a similar community outreach program to publicize the modification of the Call Boxes for people with mobility impairments; and

(10) Defendants agree to an award of Plaintiffs' actual attorney's fees and costs from the inception of the Action, said amount not to exceed $910,000, through March 4, 1999. Defendants also agree that plaintiffs will be paid up to $25,000 in additional attorney's fees and costs involved in obtaining settlement approval, and other settlement related tasks.

If the settlements are approved by the Court, the Court will dismiss the Action with prejudice and the Settlement Class shall be barred by operation of law from asserting any Settled Claims against the Released Persons, and the Settlement Class shall conclusively be deemed to have released any and all such Settled Claims as against the Released Persons.

THE RIGHTS OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBERS

You will be bound by any and all determinations or judgments in the Action in connection with the settlements approved by the Court, whether favorable or unfavorable to the Settlement Class.

You may object to the settlements and/or the application of Plaintiffs' Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses in the manner set forth below. However, if your objection is rejected, you will be bound by the settlements just as if you had not objected.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, you may, but are not required to, enter an appearance through counsel of your own choosing at your own expense. If you do not do so, you will be represented by Plaintiffs' Counsel: Charles D. Siegal and Stuart N. Senator, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, 355 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90071.

THE HEARING

A hearing (the "Settlement Hearing") will be held before the Honorable Bruce Mitchell on July 22, 1999, at 10:00 a.m., at the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, 111 North Hill Street, Department 59, Los Angeles, California, to determine whether the proposed settlements of the Action are fair, reasonable, and adequate and should be approved by the Court, whether the Action should be dismissed on the merits and with prejudice, whether Plaintiffs' Counsel's request for fees, costs and disbursements incurred up to March 4, 1999 should be approved in an amount not to exceed an aggregate total of $910,000, and whether Plaintiffs' Counsel's request for fees, costs and disbursements incurred subsequently should be approved in amounts not to exceed those specified in the settlement documentation.

Any person who has a hearing, speech or mobility impairment, and uses Los Angeles County freeways, may appear at the Settlement Hearing to show cause why the proposed settlements should not be approved; provided, however, that no such person shall be heard unless his or her objection or opposition, including the basis therefor, is made in writing and is filed, together with copies of all other papers and briefs to be submitted by him or her to the Court at the Settlement Hearing, with the Court no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the Settlement Hearing and showing the due proof of service on counsel for the Settling Parties: Charles D. Siegal, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, 355 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90071 (for plaintiffs); Patricia L. Glaser, Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, 18th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90067 (for LA SAFE and MTA); Jeffrey R. Benowitz, State of California, Department of Transportation, Legal Department, 610 West Ash Street, Suite 805, San Diego, California 92101 (for Caltrans); Angela Sierra, Office of the Attorney General, 300 South Spring Street, South Tower, 6th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (for CHP).

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any Settlement Class Member who does not make his or her objection or opposition in the manner provided shall be deemed to have waived all objections and opposition to the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of the proposed settlements and any right he or she may otherwise have to appeal any approval of the settlements.

EXAMINATION OF PAPERS AND INQUIRIES

This notice contains only a summary of the terms of the proposed settlements. For a more detailed statement of the matters involved in this Action, reference is made to the pleadings, to the written settlement agreements, and to other papers filed in this Action which may be inspected and photocopied at the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, California, during business hours of each business day. A copy of this notice, and the full text of the written settlement agreements, may also be viewed on-line at LA SAFE's website, www.mta.net/safe/default.htm.

Inquiries regarding this Action shall be addressed to any of the attorneys for the parties: Charles D. Siegal and Stuart N. Senator, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, California 90071 (for plaintiffs); Patricia L. Glaser, Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, 18th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90067 (for LA SAFE and MTA); Jeffrey R. Benowitz, State of California, Department of Transportation, Legal Department, 610 West Ash Street, Suite 805, San Diego, California 92101 (for Caltrans); and Angela Sierra, Office of the Attorney General, 300 South Spring Street, South Tower, 6th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (for CHP).

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