In a motor vehicle accident case, what is the effect of following the initial movement of the vehicle after a stop?

Expert testimony confirmed common experience in noting that there is a 'conditioned reflex' on the part of drivers which causes them to follow the initial movement of vehicles [272 Cal.App.2d 267] ahead of them or beside them after a stop. While the victims of the accident were not present to testify on the issue, it was reasonable for the jury to infer that since the car ahead of theirs had had its moment of decision, decedents also may have been faced with the choice of stopping or proceeding forward when the oncoming train became visible to them. The observations of the court in McHale v. Hall, 257 Cal.App.2d 342, 349, 64 Cal.Rptr. 694, 699, are equally applicable here: