Kiick

This is an appeal from, a summary judgment in favor of certain defendants in a personal injury action. Appellant, by his complaint, sought recovery for damages which he suffered when his automobile collided with an automobile owned by respondent K & C Automotive. On the day of the accident the offending vehicle had been loaned out by K & C to respondent Levias as a convenience to her while her car was being repaired by K & C. Levias, on the day of the. accident, left the vehicle parked in front of her house in Oakland, and during the day it was stolen. At the time of the accident it was, presumably, being driven by the thief. The car had not been “hot-wired,” so the thief must have had a key. Levias remembers opening the car to re move some of her personal belongings before she went to work, and acknowledges that she may have left the keys in the car or dropped them nearby. The incidence of car thefts in Levias’ neighborhood is less than the city-wide average for Oakland, and among 35 areas designated as police beats within the city, 26 had a higher incidence of auto theft. The question is whether, on these facts, reflected in pleadings and depositions, the trial court…