Terrance Nelson, et al. v. Jashanpreet Singh, et al.

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO

TERRANCE NELSON; TINA FOSTER; Case No.: CIVSB2602658 TOMIKO LEE-NOLASCO, [TENTATIVE] ORDER Plaintiffs, OVERRULING DEMURRER FILED BY THE STATE OF v. CALIFORNIA TO PLAINTIFF’S COMPLAINT JASHANPREET SINGH; HARJIT SINGH; NATHAYN TRANS LLC; MATHAUN TRANSPORTATION LLC MTL XPRESS INC.; THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES; and DOES 1 through 100, INCLUSIVE, Defendants. And

GEORGIA M. NELSON, Nominal Defendant.

I. INTRODUCTION

Currently before this Court is a demurrer to the Complaint filed by the Defendant State of

California acting by and through the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

This action was commenced on January 20, 2026, by Terrance Nelson, Tina Foster, and

Tomiko Lee-Nolasco (“Plaintiffs”) asserting causes of action for (1) wrongful death; and

(2) failure to discharge mandatory duty. This is a wrongful death matter arising out of the deaths

of Clarence and Lisa Nelson (“Decedents”) in a motor vehicle collision on October 21, 2025.

Defendant Jashanpreet Singh was driving a semi-truck (the “Subject Truck”) for Defendants

Harjit Singh; Mathaun Trans LLC; Mathaun Transport LLC; and MTL Xpress Inc. Defendant

Jashanpreet Singh collided with stopped traffic on the I-10 freeway in San Bernardino County.

He struck the car being driven by Clarence and Lisa Nelson, causing their deaths. (Comp., ¶ 1.)

After various proofs of service were filed, the State of California acting by and through

the California Department of Motor Vehicles, filed this present demurrer together with a

declaration by Haiyang Allen Li, Esq. On May 7, 2026, Plaintiffs filed an opposition to the

demurrer together with a declaration by Andrew L. Schrader, Esq. and a request for judicial

notice. On May 13, 2026, Defendant State of California filed a reply. After issuing a tentative

ruling and holding a hearing on the motion, the Court now issues its final ruling.1

II. WHY THE DEMURRER SHOULD BE OVERRULED Section 815.6 has three discrete requirements which “must be met before governmental