On Nov. 22, 2009, plaintiff William Hurd, 54, a clerk for Union Pacific Railroad, was a passenger in a mini-van driven by his son-in-law, David Hasler. Plaintiffs Ellie Hasler, Mila Hasler and Kylee Rebelo, all minors, were also passengers in the vehicle. As they came to a stop on southbound State Route 78, in San Diego, to avoid construction debris from a nearby bridge construction, their vehicle was rear-ended by a Chevrolet 4×4 pickup truck, driven by George Hale. William Hurd; David Hasler; Lisa Hasler, acting as guardian ad litem for Ellie Hasler and Mila Hasler; and Crystal Rebelo, acting as guardian ad litem for Kylee Rebelo, sued George Hale and the construction company working on the nearby bridge, Skanska USA Civil Inc. The plaintiffs alleged that Hale was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. They also alleged that Skanska Construction created a dangerous condition of public property by leaving construction debris in the roadway. The Haslers and Kylee Rebelo ultimately settled their claims against the defendants. Skanska also settled out early in the case, but the jury was still allowed to consider Skanska’s alleged percentage of fault. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial with only Hurd’s claims against Hale. Hurd’s counsel presented the testimony of an independent witness who was traveling behind Hale at the time of the accident. The witness testified that Hale never braked before striking the back of the vehicle Hurd was riding in. Hale blamed the cause of the collision on the construction debris in the roadway. He testified that he had insufficient time to avoid the collision based on “imminent peril.” The defense’s accident reconstruction expert testified that the construction debris caused the accident by leaving Hale with no time to stop before striking the rear of Hurd’s vehicle., Hurd was treated by paramedics at the scene and then transported to an emergency room, where he was treated and released the same day. He was diagnosed with back and neck strains. He later developed spinal stenosis on the L4-5 vertebrae and required a lumbar fusion. Hurd noted that he underwent a previous fusion surgery on his L5-S1 vertebrae in 2003. The plaintiff’s expert orthopedic surgeon testified that although Hurd had an L5-S1 fusion eight years earlier, the subsequent surgery had nothing to do with a pre-existing condition and was directly caused by trauma from the 2009 collision. Hale’s counsel argued that the cause of Hurd’s L4-5 disc fusion was not due to the 2009 collision, but was a result of pre-existing degenerative disc disease. The defense’s expert neurosurgeon opined that Hurd’s need for the L4-5 surgery was due to loading on the upper level disc, which was caused by the prior L5-S1 fusion surgery.