Cordova

Under section 835 of the Government Code, a public entity may be held liable for injury proximately caused by a dangerous condition of its property if the risk of injury was reasonably foreseeable and the entity had sufficient notice of the danger to take corrective measures.

In this case, the negligent driving of a third party motorist caused another car to strike a tree planted on a center median owned and maintained by the City of Los Angeles. The collision with the tree killed or injured all of the car’s occupants. Plaintiffs Antonio and Janis Cordova sued the city under section 835, alleging that the configuration of the roadway was a dangerous condition of public property. The question we confront is whether section 835 requires plaintiffs to show that this allegedly dangerous condition caused not only their decedents’ fatal injuries, but also the third party conduct that precipitated the accident. We conclude that section 835 does not require plaintiffs to make such a showing.

I.

This case arises from a fatal traffic accident in Eagle Rock, a neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. Cristyn Cordova was driving her 2006 Nissan Maxima westbound in the inside lane…