Two Southern California families have brought legal claims against the city of Newport Beach alleging fatal personal injuries on public property, specifically the lack of proper signage on city beaches that they say led to the drowning deaths of their loved ones. According to The Orange County Register, one of the claims involves the March 2008 drowning of Claremont resident Victor Wang, who was 17 at the time of his death. Wang's family says that the city did not post flags or warning about the high surf and wind conditions seeking $20 million in damages. A second claim, in connection with an August incident where a young man dove into a wave and broke his neck, cites an unspecified "dangerous condition of public property." The plaintiff, Michelle Taylor, sought $500,000 in damages. The city rejected both claims.

In Wang's case, city officials said Wang was aware of the large surf and must have seen numerous signs warning about the ocean condition, but still chose to go in. The families still have the option to hire a personal injury lawyer and file a lawsuit.

The news article brings up an interesting question – What is the government's liability when it comes to personal injury accidents, injuries and deaths that occur on public property? California Government Code section 831.2 states: "Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by a natural condition of any unimproved public property, including but not limited to any natural condition of any lake, stream, bay, river or beach." However California Government Code section 831.8 states that a governmental agency is not immune from liability if "the public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge of the condition and knew or should have know of its dangerous character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the condition."

Over the years Bisnar | Chase has successfully represented numerous victims and families of victims who have been catastrophically injured or killed as a result of dangerous conditions of public property such as a dangerous roadway or intersection. We represented a teenager in Hanford who suffered a brain injury because of a bicycle accident at a dangerous city intersection that left him disabled for the rest of his life. We have represented a Los Angeles County man in his 20s, who was forced off the road because of a dangerously designed roadway. We've also fought for the rights of a woman who lost control of her car as a result of unreasonably dangerous pot holes on the road, which resulted in a car accident and caused her to have spinal surgery.

When government agencies know of dangerous conditions on public property and has had the opportunity to correct those condition, but chose not to, then they could be held liable for accidents, injuries and deaths. If you have been seriously injured or have lost a loved one in an accident that involved dangerous public property, you should consult a reputed California personal injury lawyer, which has had experience

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