Teall v. City of Cudahy

TRAYNOR, J.

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of dismissal entered after the sustaining of defendant’s general demurrer to her second amended complaint, which alleged that defendant was liable for personal injuries under section 53051 of the Government Code.

1

Section 53051 was repealed effective September 20, 1963 (Stats. 1963, ch. 1681, § 18). At the same time extensive new legislation became effective governing claims and actions against public entities and public employees. (Gov. Code, 810-895.8; Stats. 1963, ch. 1681, § 1.) This legislation provides that it “applies retroactively to the full extent that it constitutionally can be so applied.” (Stats. 1963, eh. 1681, § 45, subd. (a).) Examination of the statutory changes, however does not disclose any material changes in the law applicable to the facts alleged.

2

[433]

The amended complaint alleges that plaintiff, a 7-year-old child, was severely injured while crossing a street in the City of Cudahy. We have drawn a diagram an as aid to an understanding of the facts alleged. Traffic lights controlled the movement of pedestrians and vehicles at the intersection. The light at C was designed to guide pedestrians crossing in the crosswalk from A to B. Pedestrians standing at A, however, could not see this light, but could see a light located on the east side of the street designed to control vehicular traffic from the north. The exact location of this signal is not alleged. It appears, however, from a map attached to plaintiff’s brief, the accuracy of which is not challenged, that the signal was located at D. Because the distance between the north and south entrances of Cecilia Street was approximately one hundred yards, all signals were red during each cycle to permit vehicles that had entered the intersection on a green light to clear it before pedestrians began to cross.

Immediately before the accident, the signal at D was red to the north. Unable to see any other signal, plaintiff assumed that the light at C was green and proceeded from A into the street, where she was struck by a truck coming from the south that had not cleared the intersection.

The only issue before us is whether the court erred in ruling as a matter of law that the alleged arrangement of the lights at the intersection did not constitute a dangerous or defective condition of public property. The other elements of liability under section 53051 were properly alleged.