Genrich

The State of California (State) challenges a jury verdict rendered against it in an action brought by Cynthia Genrich for personal injuries suffered in a traffic accident. It contends the trial court committed prejudicial error in permitting testimony regarding prior and subsequent accidents in the vicinity of the accident site without a showing those accidents occurred under similar conditions. It also asserts testimony concerning incidents unrelated to the alleged dangerous condition of the highway should have been excluded. We disagree and affirm.

I.

The accident occurred on an afternoon in July of 1980, at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and West Street in South Laguna Beach. Genrich, en route to the beach with a friend, was crossing Coast Highway in a marked pedestrian crosswalk located north of the intersection when she was struck by a pickup truck. The driver, Robert Davey, did not see her as she stepped into his truck’s path; his view was obstructed by a large truck situated in a left turn lane intended for vehicles turning left onto West Street. Davey mistakenly believed the driver of the other truck was waiting for northbound traffic to clear, not…