Williams v. State of California

Opinion

KAUS, J.

I

The issue is whether the mere fact that a highway patrolman comes to the aid of an injured or stranded motorist creates an affirmative duty to secure information or preserve evidence for civil litigation between the motorist and third parties. We find that stopping to aid a motorist does not, in itself, create a special relationship which would give rise to such a duty.

According to plaintiff’s complaint, she was a passenger in an automobile on a bridge crossing the American River in Sacramento when a piece of a heated brake drum from a passing truck was propelled through the…