Grant Hoffman wants to make the roads safer for bicyclists and motorists.

That’s why he and his sister, Kirsten Hoffman, plan to file a lawsuit against the city of Bakersfield in the alleged wrongful death of their father, Bakersfield College health professor Norm Hoffman.

“We want to find out if the city was negligent,” he said. “My pops would have wanted us to check it out for him.”

The family’s claim against the city, which was rejected, states that the city and county failed to take adequate precautions to safeguard users of Fairfax Road — cars as well as bicyclists — or to warn the public of the potential hazards.

The claim, which is the first step in a lawsuit, was filed on Sept. 11.

Norm Hoffman, longtime Bakersfield College professor and bicycling champion, was killed on Fairfax Road last spring. Grant Hoffman said that the reason for the suit was because the road is used as a way for people to exercise and that if it was safe, his father’s death could have been prevented.

“The road is a great workout road and people like to use it all the time,” he said. “I used to rollerblade down it. But accidents do happen.”

But the Bakersfield attorney for the Hoffman family, Daniel Rodriguez, said that the local agencies in charge of keeping roadways safe failed to do anything until someone was hurt.

He said steps should have been taken to prevent Hoffman’s death.

“They recognized the need, they had it in the works,” he said. “They never got around to doing it. It’s a sad commentary. Typically the government doesn’t do anything until something happens. So is it just a coincidence that within three weeks of Norm Hoffman’s death that they were out there doing it? … It took somebody’s death to put them into action.”

Rodriguez said that the family filed the claim because Hoffman’s death was the direct result of the agencies’ negligence.

Hoffman was killed March 14 when he was struck from behind while biking by Nicholas Garcia on the southbound side of Fairfax Road. As Hoffman was biking, Garcia lost control of his car, falling on to a lowered shoulder and overcorrected. As Garcia tried to swerve back onto the southbound lane, he hit Hoffman, killing him instantly.

The Hoffman family settled with the Garcia family for $50,000, the full amount of an insurance policy. The then 17-year-old admitted to vehicular manslaughter, was put on probation for three years and sentenced to 100 hours of a juvenile work program.

But Rodriguez said that the city has a responsibility to protect citizens and that negligence and dangerous conditions of public property should not be allowed.

Since Hoffman’s death, the city has made improvements to the road and posted signs warning of the low shoulder. But Rodriguez said that the shoulder was a danger all along and that the city knew about it.

“The city should be held accountable because the city knew that this was an area that was used on a regular basis by bicyclists,” he said. “They had a duty to provide a safe passage. Maybe a large shoulder or a bike lane; neither of which did they do.”

The claim filed stated that the city knew of the dangerous conditions and that the road “created a hidden hazard that in the absence of suitable warning devices, endangered bicycle riders” like Hoffman.

“It is foreseeable that vehicles would go off the roadway edge,” Rodriguez said. “And here they didn’t maintain it. There was a drop-off on the edge of the pavement that was a three-to-four inches drop-off. That’s a significant drop-off.”

Rodriguez said there are several previous lawsuits on such cases, including the Waski family of Bakersfield, who was severely injured after a head-on collision on Highway 46 near Lost Hills in 1999.

In the Hoffman case, the city of Bakersfield, the respondents, rejected the claim.

City Attorney Bart Thiltgen said that since the claim has been rejected, the family has six months to file a lawsuit.

Hoffman was a BC professor for more than 30 years, teaching health classes on campus. He was a veteran cyclist, winning multiple races and accolades. In 1994, Hoffman was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a fatal disease that attacks the liver.

Despite his ailment, Hoffman always looked to improve students’ lives and to stay healthy.

His son said that Hoffman always had a positive outlook on life.