Harris

*1074 Opinion

Wendi L. Harris filed a complaint against Lois M. Lammers seeking damages for injuries she sustained in a car accident. The matter was tried before a judge who ruled Lammers was negligent and who awarded Harris $21,244.62 in damages. However, the court reduced the award to $6,884.50 pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 998. Harris now appeals claiming the judgment must be reversed because the trial court committed several errors during trial. Lammers cross-appeals claiming the judgment must be modified to eliminate the portion of the judgment that awarded Harris noneconomic damages. We will reject the arguments advanced on appeal and affirm that aspect of the judgment. However, we agree with Lammers’s contention that an award of noneconomic damages was unavailable here and will order a modification to the judgment.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The underlying accident in this case occurred on December 6, 1996, in the parking lot of a drugstore located in Crescent City. Lammers and Harris were parked next to each other. Harris was behind her vehicle (an Izusu) and was handing balloons to her children inside. Lammers backed out of her…