Murphy v. County of Lake

The county of Lake has appealed from a judgment in favor of plaintiff in an action for damages sustained by plaintiff as a result of the wrecking of his truck when it plunged over the bank of a county road in Lake County due to the alleged negligence of defendant and appellant county of Lake in the maintenance of the same in a dangerous and defective condition.

“Soda Bay Road,” as it is commonly known, is a narrow, winding mountain road, the paved portion being 12 feet wide with a 3-foot shoulder on the side, which we will refer to as the right side, and an 18-inch shoulder on the left or bank side. On the left side between the shoulder and the almost perpendicular bank was a shallow gutter or ditch. The right shoulder ended in an abrupt drop of about 500 feet. As respondent’s employee and driver of the truck, one Ayer, rounded a curve he observed the car operated by defendant Frances, which was approaching from the opposite direction. At that time the two vehicles were approximately 50 to 75 feet apart and both were traveling approximately 15 miles per hour. Plaintiff’s truck was 7 feet 5 inches in width at its widest section and the Frances car was the standard width of 4 feet…