Summary Judgment In Favor Of A Defendant Who Was The Passenger In A Car Reversed.

Plaintiffs’ allegations are that a passenger in a car involved in a fatal accident “told the driver to drive at an unsafe speed over a road [the passenger] knew had unusual conditions that would cause the car to become airborne, resulting in the fatal accident.” The trial court granted summary judgment after concluding there was no evidence to suggest the passenger’s act of telling the driver to drive faster affected the driver’s control over the vehicle, and therefore, no triable issues of material fact existed. In reversing, the Court of Appeal agreed with plaintiffs’ contention “the evidence raises triable issues for a jury as to whether to impose joint liability on [the passenger] for her conduct on the night in question on a theory of concert of action or conspiracy, and also as to whether she unreasonably interfered with the safe operation of a vehicle within the meaning of Vehicle Code section 21701, [“No person shall willfully interfere with the driver of a vehicle or with the mechanism thereof in such manner as to affect the driver’s control of the vehicle.”] to support a cause of action.” (Navarrete v. Meyer (Cal. App. Fourth, Div. 1; June 22, 2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 1276 [188 Cal.Rptr.3d 623].)