On Nov. 5, 2010, at approximately 2:25 p.m., plaintiffs’ decedent Maria Angeles Almanza-Romero, 48, a caregiver, was driving on State Route 156 in Monterey County when she came to a stop to wait for oncoming traffic to clear so that she could make a left turn into her private driveway. While stopped, an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer operated by Ronn Williams rear-ended Almanza-Romero’s vehicle, causing both vehicles to cross into an opposite lane of travel. Almanza-Romero’s vehicle then struck an oncoming vehicle, which was operated by plaintiff Cassandra Jones, head-on. Almanza-Romero was killed in the accident. Jones, who was seven months pregnant with her second child, survived the crash, but her 4-year-old son, plaintiffs’ decedent Alex Navarro, who was a rear-seat passenger in his mother’s car, died in the collision. Cassandra Jones and Ernie Navarro, acting both individually and as Alex’s successor in interest, sued Williams; the owner of the big rig truck and Williams’ employer, Bhandal Brothers Trucking Inc.; and the maintainers of the roadway, the state of California and the California Department of Transportation. In a separate action, Kenneth Martinez, acting as an administrator and heir to the estate of Almanza-Romero; Eufemio Martinez, an heir to the estate of Almanza-Romero; Mark Donnelly, acting as guardian ad litem for Maria Carrillo, a minor and heir to the estate of Almanza-Romero; and Ricardo Jaime, acting as guardian ad litem for Roberto Jaime-Almanza, a minor and heir to the estate of Almanza-Romero, sued Williams, Bhandal Brothers, Caltrans, and the Transportation Agency for Monterey County. The two actions were ultimately consolidated. The Transportation Agency was dismissed prior to trial and Williams was dismissed from the action due to course and scope. The matter then proceeded to trial on Jan. 13, 2014. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Bhandal Brothers was liable for Williams, who negligently operated his big rig truck so to be a substantial factor in the collision and the ensuing deaths. Counsel also argued that Caltrans was negligent for failing to repair the highway’s dangerous condition. Counsel contended that Caltrans’ engineers knew that Highway 156 was operating beyond capacity since the mid-1970s and that it had accidents above the statewide average at numerous sections of the Western Corridor. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that rather than fixing the problem, the dangerous condition was made deadly. Plaintiffs’ counsel presented Caltrans-produced Project Study Reports dating back to 1997 that showed 55 percent of the accidents on Highway 156 were of the rear-end type due to, among other things, drivers stopping or slowing down on the highway in order to turn left across oncoming traffic. Counsel contended that despite recommendations from several of Caltrans’ engineers (as contained in two PSRs) to eliminate left-hand turns and, thus, improve traffic flow and reduce the number of accidents, Caltrans failed to take any action for over a decade to either correct the dangerous condition or warn the public of it. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that as a consequence, just as the Caltrans engineers predicted, the number of accidents continued to rise, resulting in the avoidable deaths of Alex and Almanza-Romero. Counsel for Bhandal Brothers presented evidence that showed that Williams was left with mere seconds to react to Almanza-Romero’s stopped vehicle due to the dangerous condition of SR-156 at the area of the collision. Plaintiff’s counsel agreed. Caltrans maintained that Highway 156 was safe and that Bhandal Brothers’ employee, Williams, was the sole cause of the accident. It contended that the only solution to fixing the problem of left-hand turns across oncoming traffic was to create a new highway expansion project at a cost of up to $500 million to taxpayers. Thus, Caltrans contended that it acted reasonably in not correcting the highway’s condition (due to cost) and that it was reasonable in not providing warnings. In response, plaintiffs’ counsel presented several solutions from expert engineers as to how to correct the left-turn problem, including signage, delineators, and a continuous rumble strip, which the experts claimed would have cost the state well under $25,000. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that these short-term warning and traffic flow measures would have prevented cars from legally stopping on the freeway to turn left into private driveways, or would have warned other drivers that traffic may be stopped, and, therefore, an accident of this type would have been avoided., Almanza-Romero died instantly as a result of multiple traumatic sustained when her vehicle was struck head-on. She was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene. Almanza-Romero was 48. She is survived by her two adult children and two minor children. Alex sustained blunt force trauma to his head while in the back seat of Jones’ vehicle. He was subsequently transported to a hospital, where he was declared deceased upon arrival. He was 4 years old. Alex is survived by his parents. Jones and her unborn baby survived the accident. However, Jones sustained multiple abrasions, lacerations and contusions. She also complained of pain to her forehead, knee, hip and abdomen, as well as pain and swelling in her left hand. Jones was subsequently boarded and collared, and then transported by ambulance to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, where she was diagnosed with fractures of the left shoulder/clavicle and left hand. Jones was then kept overnight to undergo fetal monitoring. After her discharge from the hospital, Jones was required to wear a sling for several months. Jones claimed that she felt numbness and a loss of sensation on one side of her head for several months. She also claimed that she developed, and continues to suffer from, constant back pain that she had never experienced before the collision. She further claimed that she still suffers aches and pains about her body and, to this day, her shoulder pops out of place at times and she continues to have a clicking sensation in her knee. In addition, Jones claimed emotional distress, resulting in severe depression as a result of her and losses. Counsel for Almanza-Romero’s heirs asked the jury to award $412,340.03 in economic damages, which included funeral expenses, and suggested a range for non-economic damages for the wrongful death of Almanza-Romero. Counsel for Jones and Navarro asked the jury to award $13.5 million in total damages for Jones’ and Alex’s wrongful death. The amount sought included Jones’ funeral expenses for Alex, as well as past and future medical expenses for Jones, and past medical expenses for Alex.