Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-03707/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-03707-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 350
Nature of Suit: Motor Vehicle Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 28:2671 Federal Tort Claims Act

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JAMES MURRAY,

Plaintiff,

 v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant.

 /

No. C-04-3707 MMC

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT;

VACATING HEARING

(Docket No. 24)

Before the Court is the motion for summary judgment filed October 21, 2005 by

defendant United States of America. Plaintiff James Murray (“Murray”) has filed opposition

to the motion; defendant has filed a reply. Having considered the papers filed in support of

and in opposition to the motion, the Court finds the matter appropriate for decision without

oral argument, see Civil L.R. 7-1(a), and hereby VACATES the December 16, 2005

hearing. 

Defendant contends the dispositive issue for purposes of the instant motion is

whether Cesar Delrosario, the driver of the United States Postal Truck involved in the

accident in question, was lawfully in the intersection at the time the traffic light facing him

turned red. Specifically, defendant argues, if Delrosario lawfully entered the intersection on

a flashing yellow light, Murray was required to yield the right of way to him. See Cal. Veh.

Code § 21451(a).

Case 3:04-cv-03707-SC Document 40 Filed 12/06/05 Page 1 of 2
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1

 Murray’s accident reconstruction expert, James Hughes (“Hughes”), opines that the

traffic light for Delrosario was red when Delrosario entered the intersection. (See Hughes

Decl. ¶ 3.) If the traffic light was red when Delrosario entered the intersection, he was not

lawfully in the intersection when the accident occurred. (See Cal. Veh. § 21453(a).) 

Defendant challenges the factual basis for Hughes’s opinion.

2

Defendant has not demonstrated as a matter of law, however, that it has no liability

for the accident in question. Even assuming Murray has not submitted sufficient evidence

to contradict Delrosario’s statement that he entered the intersection on a flashing yellow

light, (see Martikan Decl. Ex. B (Delrosario Dep.) at 15:21-16:2),1 neither party has

addressed California Vehicle Code § 21457(b), which sets forth the circumstances under

which a driver facing a flashing yellow light may enter and proceed through an intersection. 

Pursuant to § 21457(b), when a driver faces a flashing yellow light, he is permitted to

proceed through the intersection or past the signal “only with caution.” See Cal. Veh. Code

§ 21457(b). On the record presented, a reasonable trier of fact could find that Delrosario

failed to act “with caution” in entering and/or proceeding through the intersection behind two

other cars, both of which were making a left turn southbound onto the Embarcadero, as it is

undisputed that, by reason of traffic proceeding southbound on the Embarcadero, all three

cars were required to wait in the intersection “[q]uite a long time” before the two cars in

front of Delrosario were able to make a left turn. (See Martikan Decl. Ex. B (Delrosario

Dep.) at 15:21-16:2.) Consequently, a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that

defendant is liable, either in whole or in part, for the accident. See Cal. Veh. Code

§§ 21457(b), 21451(a); see also Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal. 3d 804, 810 (1975) (rejecting

“‘all or nothing’ rule of contributory negligence” in favor of comparative fault).

Accordingly, the Government’s motion for summary judgment is hereby DENIED.

This order terminates Docket No. 24.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 6, 2005 

MAXINE M. CHESNEY

United States District Judge

Case 3:04-cv-03707-SC Document 40 Filed 12/06/05 Page 2 of 2