Kurashige v. Indian Dunes, Inc.

200 Cal. App. 3d 606, 246 Cal. Rptr. 310
California Court of Appeal·Decided March 23, 1988·No. B026108·Published·Cited by 24 cases

Opinion

200 Cal.App.3d 606 (1988)
246 Cal. Rptr. 310

MICHAEL KURASHIGE, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
INDIAN DUNES, INC., et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Docket No. B026108.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division One.

March 23, 1988.

*608 COUNSEL

Schwartz & Schwartz and Randall Brian Schwartz for Plaintiff and Appellant.

*609 Haight, Dickson, Brown & Bonesteel, Gary C. Ottoson, Roy G. Weatherup, Frank K. Berfield and Kenneth C. Byrne for Defendants and Respondents.

OPINION

SPENCER, P.J. —

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Michael Kurashige appeals from a summary judgment granted in favor of defendants Indian Dunes, Inc. and Newhall Land & Farming Company.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Indian Dunes Park (Park) was owned by defendant Indian Dunes, Inc. Ownership was transferred to it by defendant Newhall Land & Farming Co. in 1976. The Park was used by the general public for motorcycle dirtbike riding.

On December 21, 1982, plaintiff was injured at the Park while riding his motorcycle dirtbike on the Park's trails. Before using the Park, plaintiff signed a "General Release" agreement, an exact copy of which is attached hereto as an appendix.

The agreement is titled "Indian Dunes Park General Release," in 10 point regular print type in capital letters. Below it is printed, in red ink in 10 point bold print type in capital letters "Since all motorbike riding is dangerous we require all riders and visitors to assume all risk by signing this general release." The following release clauses are printed in 9-point print type. At the bottom of the agreement, the words "motorcycling is dangerous" are written in red in 17 point bold print. Below the agreement are three rows consisting of 28 lines each printed across the page for the riders to sign; printed on each of the 84 lines are the words "this is a release," in capital letters.

The agreement provides in pertinent part that each of the undersigned "Hereby Releases, Waives, Discharges and Covenants not to sue [defendants], all for purposes herein referred to as Releasees, from all liability to the Undersigned ... for all loss or damage and any claim or demands therefor, on account of injury to the person or property or resulting in death *610 of the Undersigned, whether caused by the negligence of Releasees or otherwise while the Undersigned is upon the Park premises...." Further, each of the undersigned warrants he is "fully aware of the risks and hazards inherent in entering upon said premises or in participating in any events held in or upon said premises and hereby elect[s] voluntarily to enter upon said premises, knowing the present condition and knowing that said condition may become more hazardous and dangerous during the time that the undersigned [is] upon said premises. The undersigned ... hereby voluntarily assume[s] all risks of loss, damage, or injury that may be sustained by [him], any damage to any property of the undersigned ... while in or upon said premises." Finally, the undersigned warrants, in bold print and capital letters, "he has read and voluntarily signs this release and waiver of all liability and indemnity agreement."

CONTENTION

(1a) Plaintiff contends summary judgment was not properly granted to defendants, in that the "General Release" agreement was unconscionable. For the reasons set forth below, we disagree.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiff opposed summary judgment on the grounds the exculpatory language in the "General Release" agreement was invalid and the agreement was unconscionable. The trial court granted summary judgment on the ground the exculpatory language was valid, relying on McAtee v. Newhall Land & Farming Co. (1985) 169 Cal. App.3d 1031 [216 Cal. Rptr. 465]. It did not rule on the issue of unconscionability.

A motion for summary judgment properly is granted where the "affidavits, declarations, admissions, answers to interrogatories, depositions and matters of which judicial notice... may be taken" in support of and in opposition to the motion "show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subds. (b), (c).) The parties' papers show no factual dispute relating to the issue of unconscionability. Therefore, the question is whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.

In McAtee v. Newhall Land & Farming Co., supra, 169 Cal. App.3d 1031, plaintiffs were injured while participating in a motorcycle race sponsored by American Motorcross Enterprises on land owned by defendant. Each plaintiff signed a "Release and Waiver of Liability and Indemnity Agreement" which provided, inter alia, each released, waived, discharged and covenanted *611 not to sue defendant for all loss, damage or claim based on injury caused by defendant's negligence or otherwise, and each assumed full responsibility for and risk of injury or damage, and each acknowledged the danger and risk of his activities. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendant on the basis of the release and waiver agreements.

On appeal, plaintiffs contended the trial court's ruling was in error, relying upon Conservatorship of Link (1984) 158 Cal. App.3d 138 [205 Cal. Rptr. 513], Ferrell v. Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts, Ltd. (1983) 147 Cal. App.3d 309 [195 Cal. Rptr. 90] and Celli v. Sports Car Club of America, Inc. (1972) 29 Cal. App.3d 511 [105 Cal. Rptr. 904]. The appellate court ruled all were inapposite: "[I]n Link a purported release agreement required as a condition of entry to a racing event was held unenforceable because it was printed in type which could not easily be read by persons of ordinary vision and because it consisted of two documents with different terms, which at best were unclear, not explicit and so lengthy and convoluted as to be incomprehensible; in Ferrell there was lacking adequate, clear and explicit exculpatory language in that no words such as `release,' `remise,' `discharge,' `waiver' or the like appeared in the document in question; and in Celli there was missing from the release agreement any satisfactory indication that the defendants there were to be absolved from the consequences of their own negligence." (McAtee v. Newhall Land & Farming Co., supra, 169 Cal. App.3d at pp. 1033-1034.)

(2) The court therefore tested the facts by the principles enunciated in Tunkl v. Regents of the University of California (1963) 60 Cal.2d 92 [32 Cal. Rptr. 33, 383 P.2d 441, 6 A.L.R.3d 693]. (McAtee, supra, 169 Cal. App.3d at p. 1034.) Tunkl provides an "`exculpatory provision may stand only if it[] does not involve "the public interest." ... [¶] In placing particular contracts within or without the category of those affected with a public interest, the courts have revealed a rough outline of that type of transaction in which exculpatory provisions will be held invalid. Thus the attempted but invalid exemption involves a transaction which exhibits some or all of the following characteristics. It concerns a business of a type generally thought suitable for public regulation. The party seeking exculpation is engaged in performing a service of great importance to the public, which is often a matter of practical necessity for some members of the public.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Kurashige v. Indian Dunes, Inc., 200 Cal. App. 3d 606, 246 Cal. Rptr. 310 (Cal. Ct. App. 1988).

200 Cal. App. 3d 606 (Kurashige v. Indian Dunes, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Lhotka v. Geographic Expeditions, Inc.
181 Cal. App. 4th 816 (California Court of Appeal, 2010)
Pearce v. Utah Athletic Foundation
2008 UT 13 (Utah Supreme Court, 2008)
City of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court
161 P.3d 1095 (California Supreme Court, 2007)
King v. CJM Country Stables
315 F. Supp. 2d 1061 (D. Hawaii, 2004)
O'Connor v. United States Fencing Ass'n
260 F. Supp. 2d 545 (E.D. New York, 2003)
Moore v. Hartley Motors, Inc.
36 P.3d 628 (Alaska Supreme Court, 2001)
Allan v. Snow Summit, Inc.
51 Cal. App. 4th 1358 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
Westlye v. Look Sports, Inc.
17 Cal. App. 4th 1715 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
Carboni v. Arrospide
2 Cal. App. 4th 76 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
Guido v. Koopman
1 Cal. App. 4th 837 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
Buchan v. United States Cycling Federation, Inc.
227 Cal. App. 3d 134 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
Hohe v. San Diego Unified School District
224 Cal. App. 3d 1559 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Superior Court
211 Cal. App. 3d 758 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
HS PERLIN CO. INC. v. Morse Signal Devices
209 Cal. App. 3d 1289 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
Madison v. Superior Court
203 Cal. App. 3d 589 (California Court of Appeal, 1988)