Duty to Investigate Incidents

A crucial, but often overlooked, duty of common carriers is their responsibility to investigate and document incidents. This duty, probably an outgrowth of the utmost duty of care imposed upon all common carriers for hire, became law in the decision of De Vera v. Long Beach Public Transportation Company (1986) 180 Cal.App.3d 782. The appellate court in De Vera held for the first time that a common carrier had a duty to investigate and keep evidence concerning accidents on behalf of its passengers for use in future civil litigation. A man sustained injuries when a bus in which he was riding, owned and operated by a public transportation company, was rear-ended by a vehicle owned and operated by a third party. The man brought an action against the transportation company alleging that the company, through its employees, had negligently lost or failed to obtain the identity of the third party motor vehicle and driver. He claimed that the company owed him a legal duty to obtain and safekeep the information to assist plaintiff in recovering against the third party. The issue on appeal was whether the common carrier owed a passenger such a duty. The appellate court held that the bus company, as a common carrier, had a special relationship with plaintiff, as a passenger, giving rise to a duty to investigate and safekeep evidence. The court reasoned that the foreseeability of possible harm to passengers resulting from a failure to investigate and safekeep information, coupled with the burden on a passenger to personally seek such information, provided a basis for the duty. While De Vera involved a bus company, the law is equally applicable to other common carriers of passengers such as taxi companies, railroads, airlines and owners of escalators or elevators.