On Oct. 10, 2015, plaintiff Vanessa Martinez, 24, a clerk, was a back-seat passenger in a compact vehicle driven by her friend Sutton Layne and traveling on the westbound side of Adams Avenue, in Huntington Beach. As they approached the intersection with Bushard Street, Layne entered the left turn pocket with the intention of turning left onto the southbound side of Bushard Street. As the protected-permissive turn signal for westbound Adams Avenue transitioned from a green arrow to a green ball, Layne began her left turn across the three opposing lanes of traffic. John Biggs, who was driving his vehicle on the eastbound side of Adams Avenue, proceeded straight through the intersection on a green light and violently collided with Layne’s vehicle. Martinez claimed to her head. Martinez sued Layne, Biggs and the believed maintainers of the intersection, the city of Huntington Beach, Orange County and the California Department of Transportation. Martinez alleged that Layne and Biggs were negligent in the operation of their respective vehicles. Martinez also alleged that the city, county and/or Caltrans was negligent in the repair and/or maintenance of the intersection, creating a dangerous condition. Layne and Biggs resolved the claims against them early in litigation by agreeing to tender their respective policy limits of $100,000 each. The county and Caltrans were also dismissed from the case, as it was determined that the city was in control of the subject intersection. Thus, the matter continued solely against the city. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the intersection was unreasonably dangerous to left turning motorists. Counsel asserted that the left turn signal was confusing to motorists, causing turning motorists to proceed on the green ball, assuming it was the same as a green arrow, and resulting in left turn crashes at the intersection. Additionally, plaintiff’s counsel contended that the city had notice of the danger dating back to as early as 1999, as established through newspaper articles, the history of left turn collisions at the intersection, and statements by the city in its own grant application to modify the intersection three years before the incident. The city’s counsel asserted that the city had no prior notice of the substantial history of left turn collisions at the intersection and that the admissions in the grant application were inadmissible. The city’s counsel moved for summary judgment, claiming the intersection was not dangerous and that design immunity applied to bar the city from any liability, but the motion was denied., The force of the impact resulted in a 6-inch laceration to the back of Martinez’s head and rendered her unconscious. Most significantly, she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in her brain and several dozen micro-hemorrhages, resulting in cognitive and memory dysfunction, as well as severe weakness in her left leg. Martinez was transported by emergency medical personnel to UCI Medical Center, in Orange, where she remained hospitalized for six days before being transferred to Scripps Mercy Hospital, in San Diego, for inpatient acute care. She then remained at Scripps for the next 21 days, undergoing multidisciplinary treatment management and rehabilitation. Following her discharge from Scripps, Martinez continued to follow up with outpatient rehabilitation visits at Scripps and required a month of home nursing care. She also underwent continued neurological treatment and physical therapy to foster the brain-to-muscle connection for her left leg weakness and continued lack of coordination. In addition, she underwent continued psychological and psychiatric care for depression, anxiety, and some continued cognitive dysfunction. However, after several months, Martinez was back to being able to work, was taking a more active role in her church and was engaging in her regular activities of daily living. While she continued to exhibit minor cognitive issues, including forgetfulness, taking a longer time making decisions and more “tip of the tongue” moments, Martinez appeared “normal” to those interacting with her and was functioning independently. Martinez sought recovery of approximately $280,500 in past medical costs and an unspecified amount of future medical costs. She also sought recovery of damages for her past and future pain and suffering. However, the exact amount of Martinez’s future medical and special damages was pending a life care plan at the time of settlement.