ST., CALIF. EX REL. DEPT. OF TRANSP v. Superior Ct.

California Court of Appeal Jan 22, 1980 No. 47840Published

Before: Caldecott

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Holding. The court held that while accident reports are privileged and confidential under Vehicle Code section 20012, plaintiffs are entitled to discover the fact and number of prior and subsequent accidents, but not the identities of persons involved or the specific details contained in the reports.

Issues

Whether traffic accident reports are privileged under Vehicle Code section 20012.
Whether the state must disclose the fact and number of prior and subsequent accidents despite the confidentiality of the underlying reports.
Whether a discovery order for accident data is overbroad if it includes subsequent accidents or a broad geographic range.

Disposition. remanded

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“The confidential privilege provided is not intended to protect the State from its responsibilities, including its duty to acknowledge the fact of prior occurrences, but is to protect and keep inviolate the identity of the persons involved”

“The existence of other accidents is not privileged information within the confidential restriction previously noted. The privilege against disclosure of the reported details supplied by the parties does not extend to the fact of an accident.”

“In the light of Edgar, real parties in interest are entitled to discovery as to the fact of the prior accidents and to their number, but not to the identity of the persons involved in the accidents, the witnesses, the investigating officers”

102 Cal.App.3d 25 (1980) 162 Cal. Rptr. 78 THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ex rel. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Petitioner,

THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, Respondent. THOMAS F. THOMSEN et al., Real Parties in Interest.

Docket No. 47840. Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Four.

January 22, 1980. [27] COUNSEL

Richard G. Rypinski, Robert J. DeFea, Robert E. Brown, Thomas J. Brandi, David W. Robison, Lee Tyler and John J. Murphy for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

C. Afton Moore III, Judy R. Campos, James S. Crawford, Dahl, Hefner, Stark & Marois and Hefner, Stark & Marois for Real Parties in Interest.

OPINION

CALDECOTT, P.J.

Petitioner, the State of California, seeks a writ of mandate, writ of prohibition or "other appropriate remedy" directing respondent superior court to vacate its discovery order of August 29, 1979, compelling production of traffic accident reports and data which petitioner claims are privileged. This court issued an order to show cause and ordered a stay of the discovery order.

On January 24, 1977, plaintiffs (real parties in interest) filed a complaint for personal injuries and damages arising from an automobile accident on State Route 17 in Hayward, California, in which a 1974 Volkswagen van, driven by plaintiff Thomas F. Thomsen, rear ended a 1974 Chevrolet van stalled in a lane of the highway. Named as defendants were the driver of the Chevrolet van, companies charged with maintenance of the Chevrolet, the manufacturer of the Volkswagen and the State of California. Liability of petitioner was predicated on allegations that State Route 17 was in a dangerous condition in that there was "an insufficient emergency lane adjacent to the center roadway driver-barrier, immediately west of the northbound No. 1 lane." Petitioner answered the complaint on July 29, 1977.

The request for discovery was made on August 31, 1978, and resulted in the order at issue here. Ordered produced were the following:

ST., CALIF. EX REL. DEPT. OF TRANSP v. Superior Ct.

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OPINION

CALDECOTT, P.J.

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