Dahms v. Henry

629 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 105, 1994 WL 39056
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 14, 1994
Docket56A03-9302-CV-00034
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 629 N.E.2d 249 (Dahms v. Henry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dahms v. Henry, 629 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 105, 1994 WL 39056 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

HOFFMAN, Judge.

Appellant-plaintiff Carol M. Dahms (Dahms) appeals the entry of summary judgment in favor of appellees-defendants Kurtis Henry (Henry) Schererville Volunteer Fire Department (Fire Department), and Town of Schererville (Town).

The facts relevant to the appeal disclose that on November 23,1989, Dahms was driving near the home of Henry in Griffith, Indiana. The roads were snow covered, slick and icy. Henry, a volunteer firefighter, received a dispatch to the fire station. When Henry backed out of his driveway, he noticed a ear in a ditch to the east of his home. He knew almost immediately that the road conditions were poor.

As Henry was driving at a rate of speed of approximately 25 miles per hour, in his estimation, and between 35 and 40 miles per hour, in Dahms’ estimation, he noticed Dahms’ vehicle about one-tenth of a mile ahead of him. Because of the road conditions, Dahms’ was driving between 3 to 5 miles per hour. Henry began pumping his brakes as he approached Dahms’ vehicle. Henry’s vehicle was approximately 150 feet behind Dahms’ vehicle. Henry was unable to bring his car to a stop. His car collided with Dahms’ vehicle pushing a portion of her ear into a ditch.

Dahms instituted this action alleging inter alia that Henry unreasonably failed to maintain an appropriate rate of speed for the road conditions and failed to maintain a safe distance from Dahms’ vehicle which negligently and proximately caused injury to Dahms and that the Fire Department and the Town were also liable on a theory of respondeat superi- or. The Fire Department, the Town, and Henry sought summary judgment based upon the immunity from liability provisions allowed governmental entities and their employees for losses resulting from the temporary condition of snow and ice on the roadway pursuant to the Tort Claims Act, IND. CODE § 34-4-16.5-3(3) (1988 Ed.). As noted above, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

The parties to a summary judgment proceeding must expressly designate to the trial court evidentiary matter which supports their respective positions. Summary judgment is appropriate if the designated eviden-tiary matter shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Brockmeyer v. Fort Wayne Public Transp. (1993), Ind.App., 614 N.E.2d 605, 606.

In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, this Court stands in the shoes of the trial court. This Court must liberally construe all designated evidentiary matter in favor of the non-moving party and resolve any doubt against the moving party. Even if it appears that the non-moving party will not succeed at trial, summary judgment is inap *251 propriate where material facts conflict or undisputed facts lead to conflicting inferences. Id. The existence of a genuine issue of material fact shall not be ground for reversal on appeal unless such fact was designated to the trial court and is included in the record. Id. at 606-607.

For summary judgment purposes, the parties agree that Henry was acting within the scope of his capacity as a volunteer firefighter for the Town and that the roads were snow covered, icy and slick. The question becomes whether Henry, the Fire Department and the Town are immune from liability based upon IND.CODE § 34^-16.5-3(3) (1988 Ed.) which provides:

“A governmental entity or an employee acting within the scope of his employment is not hable if a loss results from: ...
(3) the-temporary condition of a public thoroughfare which results from weather[.] ...”

The pertinent inquiry is whether the “loss result[ed] from” the temporary road condition caused by the weather or was proximately caused by Henry’s failure to maintain an appropriate speed and distance from Dahms’ vehicle under the circumstances, in light of his admission that he knew of the poor road conditions “almost immediately” upon backing out of his driveway.

Dahms contends that the statute does not provide immunity from suit when as here the poor road conditions were known by the governmental employee, and the employee failed to exercise reasonable care. Thus, the temporary condition of the road did not result in the collision. The primary cause of the loss was the negligent act of the employee. To hold otherwise, according to Dahms, the mere fact that roads are snow-covered, icy and slick would allow governmental entities and employees carte blanche to act without the reasonable care required under the circumstances. Under Dahms’ theory, summary judgment must be reversed inasmuch as genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether Henry was driving too fast to avoid the collision.

The defendants contend that even if Henry had been traveling at a speed of 35 to 40 miles per hour, the ice and snow on the roadway caused the collision. Consequently, the statutory immunity provisions require summary judgment in their favor.

As noted by Dahms, the authority recommended by defendants largely pertains to suits against a governmental entity for its failure to remove snow and ice which allegedly caused the plaintiffs to lose control of their vehicles or slip and fall.

See Babinchak v. Town of Chesterton (1992), Ind.App., 598 N.E.2d 1099, 1102 (plaintiff failed to bring forth evidence in summary judgment proceeding to refute governmental entity’s claim of immunity for alleged failure to clear dirt and mud covering a cracked sidewalk upon which plaintiff tripped);
Leinbach v. State (1992), Ind.App., 587 N.E.2d 733, 735 (plaintiffs decedent died when decedent lost control of vehicle on icy overpass shortly after freezing rain began, State granted summary judgment under IND.CODE § 34-4-16.5-3(3));
Van Bree v. Harrison County (1992), Ind.App., 584 N.E.2d 1114, 1117 (judgment on evidence granted as to county’s immunity based upon failure to remove snow and ice, and alleged willful, wanton or reckless behavior by county employee which allegedly caused plaintiff to lose control of her car);
and Mullen v. City of Mishawaka (1988), Ind.App., 531 N.E.2d 229, 230 (city entitled to immunity based upon evidence that plaintiff lost control of her vehicle on snowy road, also indicating result may have been different had plaintiff presented any evidence of nexus between her accident and allegedly known drainage problem at the site).

Another case contained in Henry’s Brief of Appellee, Handrow v. Cox (1990), Ind.App., 553 N.E.2d 852, trans. granted 575 N.E.2d 611

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629 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 105, 1994 WL 39056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dahms-v-henry-indctapp-1994.