Huff

In Distefano v. Forester (2001) 85 Cal.App.4th 1249, 1254 [ 102 Cal.Rptr.2d 813 ] (Distefano), this court held the primary assumption of risk doctrine the Supreme Court articulated in Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 2 , 834 P.2d 696 ] (Knight), applies to the sport of “off-roading.” The issue in this case is whether the doctrine bars a tort action arising from an off-roading collision in which the 14-year-old operator of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) was driving in violation of Vehicle Code section 38503, a safety regulation that prohibits a person under 18 years of age from operating an ATV on public land without adult supervision or a prescribed safety training program, and a companion Bureau of Land Management (BLM) safety rule.

*736 We reverse a summary judgment for defendants. We conclude this violation of safety regulations is not within the range of activities ordinarily involved in the sport of off-roading, and to the extent the violation increased the inherent risk of a collision, plaintiff did not assume the increased risk merely by participating in the sport. It was defendants’ burden to establish the violation did not increase the…