Facts

On Aug. 11, 2007, Arnulfo J. Duran, 58, was attempting to merge northbound onto the SR-14 freeway from the 10th St. west on-ramp in Palmdale, when he was rear-ended by defendant Joseph Kenneth Redd. Duran sustained fatal injuries in the collision.

Plaintiffs Emily Duran Briscoe and Arnulfo C. Duran are the adult children of the decedent.

Redd was dismissed prior to trial. The case proceeded against the State of California.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs argued that SR-14 north and the adjacent on-ramp were dangerous. Plaintiffs claimed that the California Department of Transportation, or CalTrans, failed to delineate traffic and there was insufficient length of acceleration lane to allow for safe merging onto the freeway. Plaintiffs further claimed that CalTrans knew of the dangerous condition, and had reasonable time to make the roadway safe, but failed to do so. Discovery revealed that a plan to install "channelizers," existed before the crash.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
CalTrans argued that the roadway was safe, and inattentive drivers caused the accident. CalTrans claimed that the decedent merged too soon and was driving too slowly.

CalTrans also claimed design immunity.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiffs demanded $1 million. Defendants offered $150,000.

Result

The case settled for $1 million during jury deliberations.

Other Information

The original Lancaster Superior Court indicated a bench trial would be held on the issue of design immunity. Upon re-assignment to Los Angeles Superior Central Court, the trial court ruled that loss of design immunity due to changed conditions was a question of fact for the jury. After closing argument and during deliberations, the case settled. INSURER: The State of California is self-insured. FILING DATE: Oct. 21, 2008.