Kessler

Statement of Facts and Proceedings Below

On October 27, 1981, Kessler was driving home on Pacific Coast Highway when she collided with the rear of a CalTrans road grader. The accident occurred at approximately 11 p.m. It was raining intermittently that evening; however, immediately prior to the accident the rain became torrential. As was customary for heavy rains, reflective “flooded” signs had been set out on the highway and illuminated with road flares. Plaintiff testified the rain fell with such force her windshield wipers at times could not completely clear the windshield. Indeed, she contemplated pulling off the highway until the rain subsided.

The road grader had been operating for approximately one to two hours prior to the accident, traversing a five-hundred-to seven-hundred-foot section of Pacific Coast Highway and clearing it of mud. When the accident occurred, the road grader was stopped in the number two lane of the highway (i.e., the slow lane) to adjust its front blade to remove a large rock in the roadway.

A CalTrans employee who was also working on Pacific Coast Highway witnessed the accident from his plow truck, which was parked approximately 100 yards…