Victor v. Hedges

91 Cal.Rptr.2d 466 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Thermtech (D) owned a Ford Explorer, and Hedges (D) was driving that vehicle with the owner's consent. Williams (D) was driving a Ford Aerostar van. Hedges (D) had parked his Ford Explorer on the sidewalk in front of his apartment building, parallel to, and with the driver's side tires three to four feet from, the curb line. Hedges (D) did this to show P his new compact disk player, which was located in the rear of the Explorer. Traffic along Hermosa Avenue had been routed into a single lane along the east curb. Williams (D) was northbound fiddling with his tape deck and the van drifted to the right, and the front and rear passenger side tires hit the curb, causing them to blow out; the van continued in its path. Hedges (D) and P were standing at the rear of the Explorer when Williams's (D) van ran into P and the Explorer about 30 feet from the First Street curb. P sued on theories of negligence per se and common law negligence. The court granted summary judgment. P appealed. The dispute is whether a statute prohibiting the parking of a vehicle on a sidewalk may be employed to fix upon Hedges (D) the presumption of negligence in the circumstances of this case and whether reasonable people could conclude that he subjected P to an unreasonable risk of harm. At the time of the accident, section 22500 provided: 'No person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle whether attended or unattended, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a peace officer or official traffic control device, in any of the following places: (f) On a sidewalk, except electric carts when authorized by local ordinance, as specified in Section 21114.5.