On Nov. 1, 2016, plaintiffs’ decedent Jeffrey Knopp, 60, a truck driver, was bicycling on Foothill Boulevard, near Wentworth Street, in the Sunland-Tujunga area of Los Angeles. He was struck by a vehicle operated by Joshua Willis. Knopp died at the scene. Knopp’s widow, Jennifer Knopp, and his adult son, Kevin Knopp, sued Willis and the maintainer of the roadway, the city of Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleged that Willis was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and that the city was negligent for failing to install proper warnings, creating a dangerous condition of public property. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the accident occurred on a road with two lanes in each direction and a center, turn lane with a 40-mph speed limit and a shoulder, but no dedicated bicycle lane. Counsel argued that the roadway was dangerous because the shoulder narrowed abruptly without sufficient warnings to drivers and cyclists. Counsel also argued that Willis failed to yield to Jeffrey Knopp, who was struck from behind while riding on the eastbound shoulder of Foothill Boulevard. The plaintiffs’ roadway-design expert opined that the roadway constituted a dangerous condition of public property, as the shoulder narrowed abruptly, funneling cyclists and cars into each other, and as there was an absence of warning signs in regards to the suddenly-narrowing shoulder. The expert also opined that the surrounding streets that led into the accident site had large shoulders, as well as designated bicycle lanes, which gave the false sense that vehicles and bicyclists could safely use the road together. Willis’ counsel argued that Knopp and Willis were forced to funnel into each other without warning due to the dangerous condition created by the city. The city’s counsel contended that there had been no other accidents at the location in the 20 years since the design of the roadway had been completed. Counsel relied heavily on the absolute defense of “design immunity” under Government Code § 830.6 and the absence of any “loss of design immunity” (Cornette) under California Civil Instructions § 1124. Counsel also relied on the defense of “signage immunity” under Government Code § 830.4 and “traffic signals and warnings immunity” under Government Code § 830.8. The city’s counsel argued that Willis’ negligence was a main cause of the accident. Counsel also argued that Knopp was negligent, as eyewitnesses testified that Knopp rode his bicycle from the shoulder into the traffic lanes without looking. As a result, the city’s counsel asked the jury, during closing arguments, to attribute negligence to Knopp, if the jury felt that was warranted. The majority of the witnesses and evidence presented during the trial addressed the alleged absence of a dangerous condition, design immunity and loss of design immunity. However, prior to the close of evidence, plaintiffs’ counsel successfully moved for a partial directed verdict on the ground that the city had not met its burden in establishing the discretionary approval element of design immunity, based on plaintiffs’ counsel’s prior cases of “Cornette v. Dept. of Transportation” (2001) 26 Cal.4th 63, and “Castro v. City of Thousand Oaks” (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 1451. As a result, the issues of design immunity and loss of design immunity were no longer for the jury to decide, leaving the issues of dangerous condition of public property (and all of its elements), negligence on the part of the driver and the bicyclist, damages, and apportionment for the jury to decide., Knopp sustained multiple and died at the scene. He was 60 years old. Knopp was survived by his wife, Jennifer Knopp, then 57 years old, and his adult son, Kevin Knopp, then 27 years old. Jeffrey Knopp’s family sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of a husband and father. Defense counsel noted that Jeffrey Knopp was a truck driver for Frito-Lay and lived with Ms. Knopp in Sunland, while their son lived in a different city and visited home only twice a year.