Settlement Amount:
$1,000,000 settled one month before trial

Case Name:
DAVID ROSENTHAL v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA;
KRC SAFETY COMPANY, INC; AND C & W FENCE COMPANY

Case Number:
No. 660945

Plaintiff:
David Rosenthal

Defendants:
State Of California; KRC Safety Company, Inc; and C & W Fence
Company

Facts and Background:
March 13, 1992, plaintiff, a 27-year-old attorney, was involved
in a single-vehicle rollover accident in Highway I-15 south of
Escondido. Plaintiff was traveling northbound in the number one
lane when a phantom vehicle in front of him dislodged an orange
traffic cone in his direction. Plaintiff swerved to avoid the
traffic cone and rolled down the steep embankment separating the
northbound and southbound lanes. Defendants were installing a
three-beam barrier on the highway approximately 0.2 of a mile
south of the accidents scene, using traffic cones close to the
shoulder during construction.

Plaintiff’s Contentions:
Conditions on the morning in question required that defendants
use traffic cones with weighted bases or else double the cones to
keep them from being blown into the travel lanes by vehicles
passing immediately adjacent to the closure at high speed; that
the roadway constituted a dangerous condition because it lacked a
guardrail; and that prior accidents and the steep slope put
defendant state on notice of the dangerous condition at least
five years before the subject accident.

Defendant’s Contentions:
Their traffic control work on the day in question did not violate
applicable CalTrans provisions to the industry standard of care;
that the roadway was not in a dangerous condition; and that
plaintiff was negligent in his driving.

Damages:
Plaintiff suffered a severe brain injury, with neurological
deficits that included memory loss.