Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this trip and fall/personal injury case and its proceedings.)
The Luggage Was Open And Obvious
There is no duty on behalf of the property owner to warn of or repair a condition that is open and obvious to the reasonable person. Hanson v. Luft (1962) 58 Cal.2d 443, 445 [duty to warn of defects not applicable where defect open and obvious]; Lucas v. George T.R. Murai Farms, Inc. (1993) 15 Cal. App. 4th 1578, 1590-1591 [where danger was obvious, no duty to warn or to make property safe]; Haberlin v. Peninsula Celebration Assn. (1957) 156 Cal.App.2d 404, 408 [same]; Krognos v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 387, 393 [ if a danger is so obvious that a person could reasonably be expected to see it, the condition itself serves as a warning, and the landowner is under no further duty to remedy or warn of the condition ]
DeRoche v. Commodore Cruise Line, Ltd. (1994) 31 Cal.App.4th 802, 810 [ it is settled that there is no duty to warn of a danger that is as obvious to the injured party as to the defendant ]; Marshall v. United Airlines (1973) 35 Cal.App.3d 84, 90 [ it is established law, at least in the exercise of ordinary care, that one is under no duty to warn another of a danger equally obvious to both. ] As one learned author explained:
If the danger is so obvious that a person could reasonably be expected to see it, the condition itself serves as a warning. (See, 6 Witkin, Summary of California Law (9th ed.) Torts, § 930, p. 301.) (See Part 5 of 8.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.