Opinion
Plaintiff Sherri Lynn Dutton (Dutton), through her guardians ad litem, appeals from a judgment in favor of defendants City of Pacifica (the City) and Pacifica Police Officer Anthony Risso (Risso). Duttоn contends that the trial court’s order granting summary judgment must be reversed because there is a triable issue of material fact as to whether Risso owed her a duty оf care. We disagree and affirm.
I. Factual and Procedural Background
On August 17, 1991, Dutton was seriously injured when the truck in which she was riding failed to negotiate a left turn. Following the accident, Dutton filed a complaint against the City, Risso, and a number of other defendants. The complaint alleged that the City and Risso were liable because Risso had negligently ordered Dutton to ride in the back of the truck. On May 18, 1993, the City and Risso filed a motion for summary judgment. In connection with the motion, the following facts were established.
On the evening in question, Dutton arrived at Frontierland Park in a van driven by Larry Shores (Shores). The van was carrying four passengers besides Shores and Dutton. Steve Thomas Quinn (Quinn) and two passengers arrived at thе park in Quinn’s truck. The bed of Quinn’s truck was covered by a camper shell. The truck was parked on the street and not within the confines of the park.
Eventually, Shores lеft the park area in his van. Shortly thereafter, Risso arrived and approached Quinn and a friend, who were standing behind Quinn’s truck. The seven other people рresent, including Dutton, jumped into the cab of the truck. Risso told Quinn to leave because the park closed at 11 p.m. and because the City had an 11 p.m. curfew for minors. Quinn told Risso that he was waiting for Shores and that his father did not want anyone to ride in the back of the truck. While Risso and Quinn were talking, Shores drove past the park in his van, but Quinn did not tell Risso that *1174 Shores was passing by. Risso advised Quinn that he could not wait for anyone, to “[g]et everybody out of here,” and that “if you guys don’t get out of here, curfew will bе enforced.” During the encounter, Risso also inspected Quinn’s driver’s license. Quinn was a minor and had only been licensed to drive for a few months.
According to Dutton’s dеclaration, “[a]fter Officer Risso ordered us to leave the [p]ark, I told him that I only lived up the street, and could walk home. [DD Officer Risso did not acknowledge what I said, he just ordered everyone to get into the truck. [DD If I had been given a choice, I would have walked home from the [p]ark. • • • HD • • • HD Officer Risso did not give me any alternative to riding in the back of Steve Quinn’s truck.” Dutton lived approximately six blocks or one mile from the park.
The group left the park area in Quinn’s truck between 10:45 аnd 11 p.m. The roads were wet. After leaving, Quinn dropped two girls off at a residence northwest of the park. As the group was leaving the residence, Quinn saw Shores drivе by in his van but made no effort to stop him. Quinn then drove west to the opposite side of town to drop off another girl. Shortly after this stop, Quinn lost control of his truck while mаking a left turn. Approximately one-half hour ensued between the time the group left the park area and the time of the accident. At no point during this time period did Quinn instruct any of the passengers riding in the back of the truck, including Dutton, to get out of the truck.
On June 18, 1993, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Risso but denied summary judgment as to the City. On July 27, 1993, after considering supplemental briefing, the trial court reversed itself and granted summary judgment in favor of both defendants. The trial court subsequently entered judgment in favоr of the City and Risso, concluding that “as a matter of law there is no triable issue of material fact with respect to a duty owed by defendants herein to [Dutton], The сourt also finds that as a matter of law there is no triable issue of material fact with respect to breach of duty on the part of defendants herein.” Dutton has filed a timely notice of appeal.
II. Discussion
Dutton contends that Risso owed her a duty of care because he took “affirmative action which contributed to, increased, or changed the risk which would have otherwise existed.”
(Williams
v.
State of California
(1983)
The question of whether a duty exists is a question of law and must be decided by the court on a case-by-case basis.
(Ballard
v.
Uribe
(1986)
We turn first to the issue of forеseeability. Although the possibility that a teenager ordered to disperse in a truck might be injured in a subsequent accident is not wholly unforeseeable, the issue of foreseeability cannot be analyzed in a vacuum. Rather, it must be analyzed in terms of the totality of the circumstances facing the police officer аt the scene. Placing ourselves in Risso’s shoes, we cannot say that it was any more likely that Dutton would be injured as a result of Risso’s order to disperse than that she would be injured if Risso exercised the other options that Dutton now claims he should have exercised. Specifically, the possibility that Dutton would be injured in Quinn’s truck was no more foreseeable than the possibility that she would be injured if Risso allowed her to wait for Shores’s van in the park area late at night or if Risso allowed her to walk home alone from the park area late at night.
1
(Cf.
Williams
v.
State of California, supra,
*1176 Several of the other factors enumerated in Thompson and Peterson (see ante, pp. 1174-1175) also counsel against imposing a duty on Risso in the instant case. The connection between Risso’s dispersal order and Dutton’s injury is tenuous. The acсident did not occur until approximately one-half hour after Quinn’s truck left the park area. Dutton passed up two opportunities to get out of the truck, whiсh did not crash until after it had made two stops and until it had reached the opposite side of town. (See ante, p. 1174.) There is no moral blame to be attached tо Risso’s conduct. Rather, he came upon a group of teenagers present in the park area just before curfew and park closing and took thе action that he, in good faith, believed was best. The policy of preventing future harm, the consequences to the community of imposing a duty, and the limitations imposed on police departments by their budgets all suggest that no duty should be imposed. Were we to impose a duty in this case, a police officer confronting a group of loitering teenagers would be left with only two options—leaving the teenagers alone (thereby compromising the officer’s ability to protect both the teenagers and the public generally) or assuming full responsibility for their welfare (thereby compromising the officer’s ability to protect the rеmainder of the public).
For the reasons just discussed, we conclude that, as a matter of law, Risso did not owe Dutton a duty of care. Since we have concluded that no duty existed, we have no occasion to consider whether the duty was breached.
III. Disposition
The judgment is affirmed, with costs to the City and Risso.
Strankman, P. J., and Newsom, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied July 20, 1995.
Notes
Contrary to Dutton’s assertion, it was not illegal for her to ride in the back of Quinn’s truck without a seat belt. (See former Veh. Code, § 23116 [only minors under the age of 12 years must be secured and only in enumerated circumstances].)