Erfurt

Defendant State of California appeals from a judgment entered in favor of Mary Erfurt (plaintiff) following a jury trial. While using a state highway, plaintiff struck a guardrail in front of a concrete pillar supporting an overcrossing on the highway. Plaintiff sued the state for her personal injuries, alleging the state allowed a dangerous condition to exist on a public highway and failed to warn about it. Plaintiff was awarded damages in the net amount of $108,000, the jury having determined the state was 60 percent at fault and plaintiff 40 percent at fault.

Facts

On the morning of December 3, 1976, plaintiff set out for Mexico with her friend, Trixie Haney, so that Mrs. Haney could obtain medicine for her arthritis. They left around 5:15 or 5:30 a.m.; it was still dark. Plaintiff was driving. While plaintiff had made the trip a few times before, she had not made the trip within the past year. She did not know precisely the route to take, but was relying on Mrs. Haney to give directions.

They soon found themselves heading southeasterly on Highway 60. They were in the middle of three lanes on their side of the freeway. As they went on, the sky began to brighten over…