Hosking

In this action a woman injured in a motor vehicle collision (Hosking) sued the driver of the stolen truck which collided with her vehicle during a police chase, and the company that owned the truck (San Pedro Marine, Inc.). The thief is not involved in this appeal.

By agreement of the parties the legal issues presented in the case were submitted to the trial judge for ruling on a defense motion for nonsuit based on the facts set forth in plaintiff’s opening statement. The trial judge granted the motion for nonsuit, and judgment was entered for defendant San Pedro Marine, Inc. Plaintiff has appealed.

San Pedro Marine, Inc., owned a 1973 GMC pickup truck, which its manager ordinarily drove. On the night of November 21, 1973, the manager drove the truck to Tiis mother-in-law’s residence, left the truck unattended in an alley nearby with the lights on, the door open, the key in the ignition, and the engine running. The area was a half block from San Pedro High School. When the manager returned about two minutes later, he found the truck had been taken without his consent.

On November 23, 1973, the police saw the truck in the San Pedro area being driven by Robles, a chase…

I concur in the judgment.

I have no quarrel with the main body of the well reasoned majority opinion. However, I do not concur with footnote 4 insofar as it suggests that the State Supreme Court should reexamine its holding in Richards v. Stanley (1954) 43 Cal.2d 60 [ 271 P.2d 23 ], and the “special circumstances” exception in light of the “empirical data” showing an epidemic of car thefts. I construe footnote 4 to thus imply that by reason of the “empirical data” referred to that the time has come to expand the basis for establishing civil liability of car owners whose cars are stolen within the factual context of the case at bench. I disagree. While the instant case focuses on a somewhat narrow issue in the field of tort liability, i.e., foreseeability of the risk of harm to third persons, broader legal and public policy considerations as hereafter discussed lead me to an opposite conclusion.

At the outset I note that traditionally whether or not a “Duty” is owed from one person to another (one of the necessary elements to es *106 tablish civil liability for an unintentional tort) is primarily a question of law to be determined by the court and not a question for the trier of…

In this action a woman injured in a motor vehicle collision (Hosking) sued the driver of the stolen truck which collided with her vehicle during a police chase, and the company that owned the truck (San Pedro Marine, Inc.). The thief is not involved in this appeal.

By agreement of the parties the legal issues presented in the case were submitted to the trial judge for ruling on a defense motion for nonsuit based on the facts set forth in plaintiff's opening statement. The trial judge granted the motion for nonsuit, and judgment was entered for defendant San Pedro Marine, Inc. Plaintiff has appealed.

San Pedro Marine, Inc., owned a 1973 GMC pickup truck, which its manager ordinarily drove. On the night of November 21, 1973, the manager drove the truck to his mother-in-law's residence, left the truck unattended in an alley nearby with the lights on, the door open, the key in the ignition, and the engine running. The area was a half block from San Pedro High School. When the manager returned about two minutes later, he found the truck had been taken without his consent.

On November 23, 1973, the police saw the truck in the San Pedro area being driven by…