Facts: A cyclist participating in a training ride and required to travel down the center of a public road signs a waiver releasing the organizers and the city from liability. A large pothole in the road causes a crash and injures the cyclist. The cyclist makes a demand on the city to pay for losses caused by the defective condition of the roadway which the city rejects based on the signed waiver.

Claim: The cyclist claims the waiver of liability is not enforceable since a contract cannot remove a statutory duty to protect public safety and the city has a duty to repair dangerous road conditions.

Counterclaim: The city claims the liability waiver is enforceable since the unsafe road conditions causing injury to the cyclist were the result of negligence, not a violation of the law.

Holding: A California appeals court holds a cyclist’s waiver of liability to participate in a ride is not enforceable to bar the cyclist’s recovery of losses due to an injury caused by an unmaintained roadway since a contract cannot remove the city’s statutory duty to maintain public safety by repairing dangerous road conditions. [Whitehead v. City of Oakland (2025) 17 CA5th 735]

Whitehead v. City of Oakland

 

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