Blog

Recent case seeks to hold county government responsible for injuries.

You may already know that property owners can be held responsible for various accidents occurring on their property, when these accidents are related to their failure to conduct reasonable inspections and maintenance. However, you may be surprised to learn there is a gray area when it comes to public agencies and liability for accidents occurring in “open spaces” or unimproved public parkland. Specifically, the issue in question is at what point the agencies’ management of the land causes it to become “improved” and therefore a potential source of liability for premises accidents.

One notable case related to this issue involves Zachary Rowe, a boy who was nearly killed by a falling tree in San Mateo County’s Memorial Park in 2012.

CampsiteZachary, who was 12 at the time of the accident, was camping in a designated site in the park with his family. A diseased tree fell on his tent, crushing his pelvis, internal organs, and legs. In the two years following the accident, Zachary has undergone over 50 surgeries and had his right leg amputated. His family has already incurred over $5 million in medical bills, and Zachary will most likely continue to need special medical care for the rest of his life. Needless to say this accident has completely changed his life and his family’s life forever.

The Rowe family has initiated a civil suit in an attempt to get compensation for Zachary’s injuries and suffering. The suit targets three different entities that could bear liability for this accident.

First, there is the County. The Rowes’ attorney alleges that while the California Government Code does protect government entities from liability related to natural surroundings on unimproved public lands, the campsite where Zachary was injured was neither natural nor unimproved. The campground consisted of cleared and marked campsites and featured bathrooms and showers. By paying a fee to stay at a specific designated campsite, the attorneys argue, the Rowe family had a reasonable expectation that that campsite would be safe.

The suit also targets a private tree care company with an annual contract to assess park trees for dangers, as well as PG&E. The utility company also has its own tree care contractors responsible for trimming and felling trees near power lines. The Rowe family has stated that the tree that fell on Zachary was marked with orange paint as if it had been tagged for removal but then forgotten.

Unfortunately, the Rowe family and their attorneys will have to buck precedent to win their case. Earlier this year, a judge ruled in favor of the government in a similar case in which a girl suffered a permanent brain injury after a tree fell on her tent in Portola Redwood State Park.