Hartt

INTRODUCTION

This is an action filed as a wrongful death claim arising out of an accident on a road in the Deane Dana Friendship Community Park on March 24, 2008. The decedent, one Steven Hartt (Hartt), a retired police officer, was riding his bicycle in the park, which is located in an area of the Palos Verde Peninsula containing hills and an upper and lower portion. The accident occurred on a road which connects the upper and lower areas of the park. While bicycling from the upper area to the lower area, Hartt collided with a county-owned vehicle traveling in the opposite direction of Hartt. The vehicle was owned by the County of Los Angeles and operated by one Rickey Deshon Miller (Miller), 1 indisputably a county employee. The vehicle is described as a GM (General Motors) pickup .truck. It is undisputed that Miller was in the course and scope of his employment as a park maintenance worker at the time of the accident. Plaintiffs and appellants are the survivors of Hartt, namely Mallory Anne Hartt, Bret Sean Hartt and David Brooks Hartt, the surviving wife and sons of the decedent, respectively. Unless context requires otherwise, the surviving Hartts will be referred…