Watts

INTRODUCTION

In 2014, appellant Robert Jeffrey Watts was cycling on the shoulder of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), within the jurisdiction of respondent the City of Los Angeles (the City). When he reached a point at which the shoulder was blocked by landslide material, Watts entered the adjacent driving lane, was struck by a vehicle, and suffered severe injuries. Watts sued the State (which owned PCH and later settled with him) and the City, asserting dangerous condition of public property under Government Code sections 830 and 835.1 He did not sue the driver who struck him. At trial, to establish the City’s control of the road, as required under sections 830 and 835, Watts relied on a maintenance agreement between the City and the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which required the City to sweep litter and debris off the relevant portion of

Undesignated statutory references are to the Government Code.

2 the road. The parties later submitted a written stipulation to the court that the shoulder of the road was covered by the “toe of the landslide” at the time of the incident.2 After some modifications, the stipulation was read to the jury: the “ground immediately…