Whelihan

Plaintiff Lisa Whelihan sued defendant David Espinoza for damages that plaintiff sustained in a jet ski accident. The trial court ruled that the primary assumption of risk doctrine barred plaintiff’s claims and, thus, entered summary judgment in favor of defendant.

On appeal, plaintiff contends the judgment must be reversed because, in her view, assumption of risk does not apply under the circumstances of this case and there are triable issues of material fact regarding defendant’s liability. Plaintiff’s primary argument is that, by enacting statutes addressing the safe operation of jet skis (Harb. & Nav. Code, §§ 655, subd. (a), 655.7, subd. (c)), the Legislature has abrogated application of the common law doctrine of primary assumption of risk to the sport of jet skiing. We disagree.

As we will explain, jet skiing is an active sport involving physical skill and challenges that pose a significant risk of injury to participants in the sport. The absence of the common law doctrine of primary assumption of risk would chill vigorous participation in jet skiing, thereby having a “deleterious effect” on the nature of the sport as a whole. (See Ford v. Gouin (1992) 3 Cal.4th…