Laverdure

INTRODUCTION

After he crashed his motorized scooter on the freeway, Lovive Laverdure sued the State of California and the California Department of Transportation (collectively, the State) under Government Code section 835 for maintaining uneven pavement that constituted a dangerous condition of public property.1 Laverdure appeals from the judgment entered after a jury returned a verdict for the State, finding there was no dangerous condition. He argues the trial court erred in refusing to give his proposed special jury instruction that would have told the jury the absence of accidents at a crash site is not dispositive of whether a condition of property is dangerous. Because the trial court did not err in refusing to give the proposed instruction, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Laverdure Crashes on the Freeway and Sues the State On November 27, 2017 Laverdure was merging from an on-ramp into traffic on a freeway in Los Angeles. While traveling in an auxiliary lane on the right side of the freeway, Laverdure lost control of his Italian luxury motorized scooter (which the parties sometimes refer to as a motorcycle) and crashed. Laverdure sued the State for…