Lopez

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 13, 2011, at about 7:00 p.m., while retrieving a shopping cart in the

parking lot of a “Food 4 Less” grocery store in Barstow, California, Mr. Lopez tripped

over a speed bump and fell. Tragically, he died of injuries resulting from the fall—

specifically, a ruptured spleen.

The speed bump at issue is rubber, and was installed by attaching it to the asphalt

of the parking lot on July 25, 2010. It is approximately six feet long, one foot wide, and

two and one-fourth inches in height. It is black in color, with large, yellow diagonal

stripes painted across the top curved portion. Between that top curved portion and the

bottom edge of the speed bump is a vertical edge of between one-half and nine-sixteenths

of an inch in height. According to plaintiffs’ accident reconstruction expert, who

2 examined the site of Mr. Lopez’s accident, the speed bump had also separated somewhat

from the asphalt to which it was attached, causing the vertical edge to “migrate[], in some

locations, to a height as great as 13/16 of an inch.” Plaintiffs’ expert’s theory, based on

his examination of the accident site and review of security video of Mr.…