Commercial property owners have had to learn that the concept of premises liability is an ever-expanding one. It seems that each year brings new cases showing harm or injury that an owner should have foreseen and taken action to prevent. But what about harm that might occur to someone on an adjacent property, neither owned nor controlled by the property owner being charged? Can a commercial property owner have liability for damages incurred on someone else's property? They can in California. We are so
reminded by a recent ruling from California's Second Appellate District Court of Appeal (Annocki v. Peterson Enterprises, November 14, 2014).
In March of 2011, Terry Turner, a visitor from Oklahoma, went to dinner at Geoffrey's, a popular Malibu restaurant. When he left the restaurant parking lot, he attempted to exit from the north driveway. Mr. Turner did not realize, nor did any signage inform him, that it was not possible to make a left turn exiting onto Pacific Coast Highway from that driveway. A center median prevented cars from crossing into the far lanes.
When he encountered the median, Mr. Turner attempted to back up so that he could correct his position and go to the right. Unfortunately, in doing so he collided with an oncoming motorcycle driven by Joseph Annocki. The motorcycle driver died at the scene.
Mr. Annocki's parents brought a wrongful death and negligence suit against Geoffrey's. At the trial court the defendants filed a demurrer (essentially, a motion to dismiss) on the grounds that they had no duty to post signs regarding any dangerous
Continue on page...............4 conditions. The trial court
Contin sustained the demurrer, finding that Pacific Coast highway was inherently dangerous, and therefore if a business had a driveway on such a dangerous roadway there was no duty to warn about it.
Commercial Property Owners Have Extended Liability
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By Bob Hunt / Monday, 06 July 2015
Posted on realtytimes.com
By Marilyn Much,
Investor's Business Daily / 06/11/2015