Moreno

We hold that when a peace officer opens his or her door as a precursor to exiting a patrol car and making contact with a motorist during a traffic stop, the peace officer is in “immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law” for purposes of the immunity set forth in Vehicle Code section 17004. In that situation, the peace officer cannot be held liable for opening his or her door in the path of a motorcyclist and causing injury. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court properly applied section 17004 when it granted summary judgment in favor of respondent and defendant Rowell San-Luis Quemuel (Quemuel), a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, against plaintiff and appellant Mark C. Moreno (Moreno).

The judgment is affirmed.

FACTS

Quemuel is a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff. On March 26, 2010, he was driving a marked patrol car and saw a motorist fail to obey a one-way street sign. Quemuel activated his red and blue overhead lights and pursued. Moreno, who was riding a motorcycle, saw the overhead lights from two or three blocks away. The motorist pulled over to the curb on Sunset Boulevard. As part of the traffic stop, Quemuel opened his driver’s…