This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

A corporation was developing condos and other residential projects near an intersection. As a condition for granting a permit, the city required that a traffic light, signals and road markings be installed by the corporation. The corporation hired a company to design and install the signals in 1989. However, by 1991 they had still not been installed in part due to the hired company's delay in seeking permits from the state. The intersection was known to be dangerous, and a number of accidents were on record as having occurred. In 1991, P was driving his motorcycle and crashed into a car at the intersection. P sued the corporation and others including the state department of transportation, the city, the corporation, and the company hired to design the install the lights and road markings. Summary judgment was granted to the corporation and the design company. The Court of Appeals reversed concluding that the agreement to provide traffic signals imposed on them a duty to motorists to install the signals in a reasonable and timely manner. The California Supreme Court heard the case.

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