Opening Door into Traffic Prompts Lawsuit in Beverly Hills

The City of Beverly Hills is facing a lawsuit by a man who claims a firefighter negligently opened a fire truck door as he was passing, which damaged his vehicle and caused him to injure his head, neck and back. Jesus Jimenez filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court naming the city and Firefighter Brenton Weist as defendants.

According to the complaint:

• On or about June 13, 2022, Jesus Jimenez was injured by Brenton Weist, a Fireman and the passenger of a City of Beverly Hills Fire Department Truck, resulting in substantial Injuries to Claimant including but not limited to substantial property damage as well as both physical and emotional Injuries.
• Plaintiff was driving within the speed limit down a detoured road when Plaintiff was Instructed by a City Traffic Controller to continue southbound, on Elm Drive, in the specified lane; as Plaintiff was driving down the detoured street, he noticed a fire truck facing northbound blocking traffic at which point a firefighter suddenly and negligently opened the approximately 200-pound firetruck door just as Plaintiff was driving by.
• The approximately 200-pound firetruck door violently struck and caused Impact onto the front side of Plaintiff’s vehicle Including but not limited to his driver-side door creating a 13-inch-deep groove and scraping all the way down to the tip of the driver-side door causing Plaintiff to injure his head, neck, and back.
• Beverly Hills Fire Department employee, Brenton Weist, failed to safely open his firetruck door on the side available to moving traffic which constituted a violation of City of Beverly Hills’ policies and procedures as well as the California Vehicle Code and resulted in serious physical and emotional harm to Plaintiff.

Jimenez is seeking damages for medical bills, lost wages, property damage and loss of use of his vehicle. The complaint does not state whether the firefighters were at an emergency scene, although it certainly sounds like it. In cases like this, being at an emergency scene is important for liability purposes.  Ordinarily, anyone opening a door into traffic bears responsibility for keeping a proper lookout. However, some states have laws prohibiting vehicles from driving on the same block where emergency vehicles are operating. Here is the California statute on point:

Section 21707 – Operation of motor vehicle within block wherein emergency situation responded to by fire department vehicle prohibited

No motor vehicle, except an authorized emergency vehicle or a vehicle of a duly authorized member of a fire or police department, shall be operated within the block wherein an emergency situation responded to by any fire department vehicle exists, except that in the event the nearest intersection to the emergency is more than 300 feet therefrom, this section shall prohibit operation of vehicles only within 300 feet of the emergency, unless directed to do so by a member of the fire department or police department, sheriff, deputy sheriff, or member of the California Highway Patrol. The emergency shall be deemed to have ceased to exist when the official of the fire department in charge at the scene of the emergency shall so indicate. Officials of the fire department or police department or the Department of the California Highway Patrol who are present shall make every effort to prevent the closing off entirely of congested highway traffic passing the scene of any such emergency.

Rhode Island has virtually the same provision and I have used it successfully in cases where private vehicles are damaged by a collision with a fire vehicle at an emergency scene… including when the fire vehicle backed into the private vehicle.

Here is a copy of the complaint.

Update: 6/23/23: Here is the California Vehicle Code on opening doors into traffic.

California Vehicle Code § 22517 – No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Note that if traffic is PROHIBITED within 300 feet of an emergency scene, one could argue that this provision would not be applicable to firefighters. It would still be advisable for firefighters to ensure the area is clear – but with regard to a civilian vehicle, it arguably makes compliance with § 22517 irrelevant since it should be “reasonably safe” to open the door since traffic is… by law… prohibited in that area.