Burgess v. Harley

934 S.W.2d 58, 1996 Tenn. App. LEXIS 402
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 10, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 934 S.W.2d 58 (Burgess v. Harley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burgess v. Harley, 934 S.W.2d 58, 1996 Tenn. App. LEXIS 402 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

OPINION

KOCH, Judge.

This appeal arises from a collision in which a motorist was injured when his vehicle was struck by a pickup truck that had entered an intersection without stopping at a stop sign. The injured motorist filed suit in the Circuit Court for Putnam County against the truck driver for failing to stop and against Putnam County for creating and maintaining a dangerous intersection. The trial court granted summary judgment for the county, and the injured motorist appealed. We have determined that Putnam County did not demonstrate that it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law and, therefore, we vacate the summary judgment and remand the case.

I.

Ray Burgess was traveling westward on Highway 70 in Putnam County on the morning of March 7, 1992. As he was passing through the intersection of Highway 70 and Hawkins-Crawford Road, the rear portion of his automobile was struck by a pickup truck being driven by Anthony Harley. Mr. Harley was driving north along Hawkins-Crawford Road and failed to heed the stop sign where Hawkins-Crawford Road intersected with Highway 70. The force of the collision flipped Mr. Burgess’s automobile over, and Mr. Burgess was seriously and permanently injured.

Hawkins-Crawford Road changes to a slight downhill grade as it approaches the Highway 70 intersection, thereby obscuring the surface of Highway 70 from motorists approaching from the south. A stop sign at the intersection was visible approximately 150 feet before the intersection despite some large trees on private property on the right shoulder of Hawkins-Crawford Road. In addition to a stop sign at the intersection, the county had erected a yellow “stop ahead” warning sign on Hawkins-Crawford Road approximately 440 feet before the intersection.

Shortly after the collision, Mr. Harley told the investigating officer that his brakes failed “approximately 50 to 75 yards” before the intersection. He also told another acquaintance who had witnessed the collision that he had forgotten about the stop sign and that his brakes had failed. Later, after meeting with Mr. Burgess’s lawyers, Mr. Harley stated in an affidavit and deposition that he did not recall seeing either the “stop ahead” sign or the stop sign and that it was too late to stop when he realized he was approaching the intersection.

Mr. Burgess filed a personal injury action on March 5, 1993 against Mr. Harley, the Putnam County Highway Department, and Putnam County.1 On April 8, 1993, Putnam County moved for a summary judgment asserting that Mr. Harley’s failure to obey the stop sign was the sole proximate cause of Mr. Burgess’s injuries. At the hearing on its motion, Putnam County also asserted that it was entitled to summary judgment because of governmental immunity and because another suit Mr. Burgess had filed against Mr. Harley was still pending.2 The trial court granted Putnam County’s motion for summary judgment on July 9,1993.

This court dismissed the first appeal from the July 9, 1993 order for lack of a final judgment because the trial court had not disposed of Mr. Burgess’s claim against Mr. Harley.3 On November 4, 1994, the trial court entered an order severing Mr. Burgess’s claims against Putnam County from his claims against Mr. Harley and directing [62]*62that its order constitute a final judgment with regard to Mr. Burgess’s claims against Putnam County. This appeal followed.

II.

The basic standards governing appellate review of summary judgments are now settled. Our task is confined to reviewing the record to determine whether the requirements of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 56 have been met. Payne v. Breuer, 891 S.W.2d 200, 201 (Tenn.1994); Cowden v. Sovran Bank/Central South, 816 S.W.2d 741, 744 (Tenn.1991). A summary judgment is appropriate only when there is no genuine dispute of material fact with regard to the claim or defense asserted in the motion, Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tenn.1993), and when the moving party is entitled to a judgment in its favor as a matter of law. Anderson v. Standard Register Co., 857 S.W.2d 555, 559 (Tenn.1993).

No presumption of correctness attaches to the trial court’s findings in a summary judgment case. Carvell v. Bottoms, 900 S.W.2d 23, 26 (Tenn.1995). We must consider the evidence using the standard commonly associated with a motion for directed verdict made at the close of the plaintiffs proof. Gray v. Amos, 869 S.W.2d 925, 926 (Tenn.Ct.App.1993); Axline v. Kutner, 863 S.W.2d 421, 423 (Tenn.Ct.App.1993). Accordingly, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, Haynes v. Hamilton County, 883 S.W.2d 606, 613 (Tenn.1994); Speaker v. Cates Co., 879 S.W.2d 811, 813 (Tenn.1994), and we must also draw all reasonable inferences in the non-moving party’s favor. Pittman v. Upjohn Co., 890 S.W.2d 425, 428 (Tenn.1994). We should not affirm a summary judgment if any doubt or uncertainty exists with regard to the facts or the conclusions to be drawn from the facts. Carvell v. Bottoms, 900 S.W.2d at 26; Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d at 211.

The moving party has the initial burden of producing evidence to support its summary judgment motion. Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d at 213; Byrd v. Bradley, 913 S.W.2d 181, 183 (Tenn.Ct.App.1995). A party may move for summary judgment on' the ground that the opposing party will be unable to produce sufficient evidence at trial to withstand a motion for directed verdict. Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d at 213. However, the motion must be supported by more than a mere conclusory assertion that the plaintiff cannot prove its case. Lewter v. O’Connor Management, Inc., 886 S.W.2d 253, 255 (Tenn.Ct.App.1994). In order to satisfy its burden, the moving party must produce or point out evidence in the record which, if uncontradicted, entitles the movant to a judgment as a matter of law. Armes v. Hulett, 843 S.W.2d 427, 429 (Tenn.Ct.App.1992).

III.

We turn first to Putnam County’s assertion that it is immune from suit under the Governmental Tort Liability Act because the stop sign at the intersection of Highway 70 and Hawkins-Crawford Road was on the State’s right of way. While it is undisputed that the stop sign itself is owned and maintained by the State, Mr. Burgess’s negligence action covers far more than the erection or maintenance of the stop sign. It asserts that the intersection itself and the portion of Hawkins-Crawford Road south of the intersection were defective, unsafe, and dangerous.

A.

Local governments are not insurers against all accidents on their roads and streets. Helton v. Knox County, 922 S.W.2d 877, 883 (Tenn.1996); Swain v. City of Nashville, 170 Tenn. 99, 103-04, 92 S.W.2d 405, 406 (1936). They are, however, required to use ordinary care to keep their roads and streets in reasonably safe condition for the traveling public. Blackburn v. Dillon, 189 Tenn. 240, 243, 225 S.W.2d 46, 47 (1949); Bryant v. Jefferson City, 701 S.W.2d 626, 626-27 (Tenn.Ct.App.1985); Baker v.

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Bluebook (online)
934 S.W.2d 58, 1996 Tenn. App. LEXIS 402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burgess-v-harley-tennctapp-1996.