Daraxa Lee Mattice, by and Through Her Guardians Ad Litem, Gregory G. Mattice and June Mattice v. United States of America, Department of the Interior

Daraxa Mattice, by and through her guardians ad litem, appeals from summary judgment, 752 F.Supp. 905 , and dismissal of her action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (b) (1988). She seeks damages for personal injuries sustained when she drove off a national park road and dropped 350 feet to the beach below. We *820 hold that summary judgment was' proper because the United States was protected by California’s recreational use statute.

BACKGROUND

On December 13, 1987, 14 year old Mat-tice was congregating with friends at the Crescent Beach picnic area in the Redwood National Park. Around three o’clock in the morning, the group began to break up. One of the boys had been drinking, and Mattice offered to drive him home in his vehicle. The boy agreed, but they decided to take a test drive to make sure Mattice could drive the vehicle. From the picnic area, Mattice turned right on Enderts Beach Road and drove up from the beach toward an overlook. At a curve, Mattice drove off the road, through the wooden guardrail and suffered serious injuries.

Enderts Beach Road is a paved, two-lane secondary access road that is the main road in the park.…

dissenting:

I dissent because I am in basic disagreement with the majority on all three grounds of its opinion. 1 Part of this disagreement stems from a difference in the way we characterize Enderts Beach Road. I view Enderts Beach Road as akin to an *824 ordinary street or highway, and not as the part of Redwood National Park that is used for recreation. It seems to me that the other members of the panel take the opposite view.

A.

Enderts Beach Road is a paved) two-lane road, most of which is owned by the federal government’s Redwood National Park in Del Norte, County, California. Each lane is a standard twelve feet in width. The roadway was originally constructed by the State of California in 1919 and relinquished to Del Norte County in 1933. It was taken over by the United States government when the government acquired Redwood National Park in 1973. The federal government is responsible for the maintenance, operation, and repair of the road. According to park employees, it is the main thoroughfare in Redwood National Park.

The road ventures off from California Highway 101, runs through a private residential area, and continues into Redwood National Park. Nothing in the…

969 F.2d 818 Daraxa Lee MATTICE, By and Through her guardians ad litem, Gregory G. MATTICE and June Mattice, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, DEPARTMENT Of the INTERIOR, Defendant-Appellee. No. 90-16217. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Oct. 10, 1991 * . Decided July 14, 1992. Thomas J. Brandi, James D. Downing, Bianco, Brandi & Jones, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Gail Killefer, Asst. U.S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before: SKOPIL, PREGERSON, and O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. SKOPIL, Circuit Judge: 1 Daraxa Mattice, by and through her guardians ad litem, appeals from summary judgment, 752 F.Supp. 905 , and dismissal of her action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (b) (1988). She seeks damages for personal injuries sustained when she drove off a national park road and dropped 350 feet to the beach below. We hold that summary judgment was proper because the United States was protected by California's recreational use statute. BACKGROUND 2 On December 13, 1987, 14…