Pagan v. City of San Rafael (Apr. 1, 2026, No. A171344) 2026 WL 926641
Two teenagers were driving on a rainy day when their car hydroplaned while approaching a curve, causing the car to tumble down a hillside, injuring the passenger. Plaintiff, the passenger, sued the City for maintaining a dangerous condition of public property because there were no warning signs of the curve and the road lacked guardrails. The trial court granted summary judgment, finding that the wet road and curve were open and obvious as a matter of law. Plaintiff appealed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed, explaining that a public entity is only required to maintain its property in a manner that is safe for reasonably foreseeable careful use and that the City was not required to post warnings of the curve because a driver exercising due care would have slowed down on a rainy day. The court rejected plaintiff’s argument that the curve in the road was a concealed trap because the curve was not unusual or obscured and the driver admitted she was familiar with the road.
