On April 5, 2016, plaintiff’s decedent Richard Petrillo, 70, a retiree, was motorcycling in the fast lane of northbound Interstate 680, also known as the Donald D. Doyle Highway, in Walnut Creek. He was struck by a vehicle operated by Yvonne Johnson, who had lost control of her vehicle. Johnson claimed that even though there was no contact between her vehicle and one operated by Trinity Ruggio, she lost control when Ruggio entered her lane, resulting in the collision with Petrillo’s motorcycle. As a result, Petrillo was ejected from his motorcycle and struck by oncoming vehicles. He died at the scene. The decedent’s adult daughter, Angela Young-Petrillo, sued Johnson; Ruggio; and Ruggio’s employer, CBX LLC. Young-Petrillo alleged that Johnson and Ruggio were negligent in the operation of their respective vehicles and that CBX was vicariously liable for Ruggio’s actions while in the course and scope of her employment. (It was stipulated before trial that Richard Petrillo was not negligent.) Both plaintiff’s counsel and Johnson contended that an unsafe lane change by Ruggio, who was driving her vehicle in the scope of her employment with CBX, caused Johnson to lose control of her vehicle, even though there was no contact between the vehicles. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that on the day of the accident, Ruggio made five separate admissions to five different people at the scene that she caused the accident. Counsel also noted that at least one witness saw a car changing lanes erratically just before the area of the accident and, thus, circumstantially, counsel argued that the erratic vehicle was operated by Ruggio. The plaintiff’s reconstruction and animation experts opined that Ruggio caused the accident and targeted Ruggio/CBX by focusing all of their reconstructions/animations on Ruggio’s alleged conduct. Johnson testified that someone came into her lane from her right, which caused her to lose control of her vehicle. Ruggio’s counsel argued that Ruggio’s admissions at the scene were made without reflection and that Ruggio ultimately questioned her role in causing the accident. Counsel also noted that Johnson consistently testified that a vehicle encroached on her lane from her right, not her left, where Ruggio’s vehicle was traveling, and that the encroaching vehicle caused her to lose control of her vehicle. Thus, Ruggio’s counsel argued that Johnson did not implicate Ruggio directly. Counsel also noted that while Ruggio made admissions at the scene without reflection, there were no eyewitnesses to support the claim that Ruggio’s vehicle was the one that made an unsafe lane change. As a result, Ruggio’s counsel argued that the lack of any eyewitness implicating Ruggio and Johnson’s failure to do so was significant. Ruggio’s own accident reconstruction expert opined that the plaintiff’s experts’ reconstructions and animations lacked credibility and failed to take into consideration the avoidance possibilities available to Johnson. In response, counsel for the plaintiff and Johnson argued that Johnson was simply wrong in not implicating Ruggio as the cause of Johnson losing control of her vehicle., Richard Petrillo, 70, sustained multiple traumatic after he was ejected from his motorcycle and was struck by oncoming vehicles. He subsequently died at the scene. Numerous family members and friends testified about the closeness of the relationship between Petrillo and his adult daughter, Angela Young-Petrillo, a student at Humboldt State University. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Young-Petrillo $7.25 million in wrongful damages for the loss of her father. (No economic loss was claimed.) Johnson’s counsel asked the jury not to award damages representing multigenerational wealth and asked it to find Ruggio/CBX entirely liable. Ruggio/CBX’s counsel argued for a defense verdict as to his clients, but argued that if liability was found, the jury should only award $350,000 in damages for the loss of the relationship.