Dubois County Bank v. City of Vincennes

517 N.E.2d 805, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 18, 1988 WL 1717
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 12, 1988
DocketNo. 28A01-8706-CV-122
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 517 N.E.2d 805 (Dubois County Bank v. City of Vincennes) 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
Dubois County Bank v. City of Vincennes, 517 N.E.2d 805, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 18, 1988 WL 1717 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

NEAL, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Plaintiff-appellant, Dubois County Bank as Guardian of the Estate of Thomas L. Doyle (Doyle), appeals the decision of the Greene Circuit Court granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee, City of Vincennes (City).

We affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On March 19, 1984, on Chestnut Street in Knox County, a collision occurred between an automobile driven by Martha S. Oates (Oates) and a motorcycle operated by Doyle. Chestnut Street is a two-lane public thoroughfare, 33 feet in width, which runs north and south through Vincennes University. Doyle had been traveling southbound on Chestnut when his motorcycle collided into Oates's vehicle as she attempted to exit from a parking lot.

The parking lot, located on the west side of Chestnut, is owned, operated, and patrolled by Vincennes University. The lot has two exits by which motorists may gain access to Chestnut. The collision occurred at the northern-most exit. On the date of the accident parking was prohibited along the east side of Chestnut. On the west side of Chestnut, parking was prohibited only to a point eight to ten feet from the north edge of the north exit. There were no marked cross-walks, fire hydrants, or traffic control signs or devices, including warning signs, at or near the juncture of the parking lot exit and Chestnut Street. Doyle was seriously injured as a result of the accident.

Doyle filed a complaint on January 29, 1985, naming Oates, the City, and Vin-cennes University as defendants. In Count I of the complaint Doyle alleged negligence on the part of Oates in her operation of her automobile. Count II of the complaint alleged that the City and Vincennes University negligently failed to place curb markings of sufficient length prohibiting parking on the curb immediately north of the north parking lot exit and traffic control signs and signals at or near the exit.

Doyle compromised his claim against Oates and Vincennes University and the litigation against them was dismissed. The City filed a motion for summary judgment on January 9, 1987, asserting that the City was immune from liability because decisions regarding the placement of warning signs and curb markings indicating parking restrictions are discretionary acts. The trial court granted the motion, finding that the City's decisions to prohibit parking in the manner it had and not to install warning signs were discretionary acts for which the City was immune from liability under IND.CODE 34-4-16.5-8(6) - From this judgment, Doyle appeals.

ISSUES

Restated, the issues presented on appeal are:

I. Whether the City's decision not to install warning signs at or near the parking lot exit was a discretionary act immunizing the City from civil liability under IND.CODE 34-4-16.5-3(6).
II. Whether the City's placement of curb markings to prohibit parking within an area eight to ten feet in length immediately north of the parking lot exit violated a ministerial duty imposed by the manual to install markings a minimum of 20 feet long at the location.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

When reviewing the granting of a motion for summary judgment, we apply the same standard as that applied by the trial court. Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. City of Hommond v. Cataldi (1983), Ind.App., 449 N.E.2d 1184.

Doyle claims that the trial court erred when it granted the City's motion for summary judgment. As a basis for this argument, Doyle maintains that the placement of warning signs at dangerous locations may be a ministerial act, and whether the juncture of Chestnut Street and the park[807]*807ing lot exit was a dangerous location presented a material issue of fact. He cites Peavler v. Board of Comm'rs (1986), Ind.App., 492 N.E.2d 1086, (Neal, J., dissenting), as support for his argument.

The statute at issue is the immunity seetion of the Indiana Tort Claims Act, IND. CODE 34-4-16.5-3. It provides in pertinent part as follows:

A governmental entity or an employee acting within the scope of his employment is not liable if a loss results from:
* L * #k Ld %
(6) The performance of a discretionary function;

In City of Tell City v. Noble (1986), Ind.App., 489 N.E.2d 958, trons. denied, this court decided whether the decision by a governmental entity to erect traffic control devices at a particular location is a discretionary act, thus affording the governmental entity immunity under the above statute. In that case, the plaintiff, who was injured when a truck collided with his motorcycle at an unmarked intersection, alleged that Tell City failed to provide "adequate signs, markings, and traffic controls" at the intersection. Id. at 959. The majority held that Tell City was immune from liability under IND.CODE 34-4-16.5-8(6) and (7) of the Tort Claims Act for its failure to erect a stop sign at a particular location because such a decision was a discretionary as well as regulatory act. Under the rationale of Tell City it seems apparent that the decision whether to place a warning sign at a particular location is also a discretionary act protected under the Tort Claims Act. However, the resolution of this issue has become muddied due to this court's opinion in Peavler, supra.

In Peavier, decided two months after Tell City, the majority distinguished between types of traffic control signs. Judge Ratliff, writing for the majority, held that "the installation of warning signs at dangerous locations may be a ministerial act." Id. at 1089. (Original emphasis.) He wrote further that whether the erection of warning signs at a particular location was discretionary or ministerial depends upon whether the location is dangerous, and the issue of dangerousness was for the jury to decide. Id. at 1089-90.

The majority in Peavier created a distinction between warning signs and stop and yield signs. However, we see no basis for such a distinction. Our opinion in Tell City was based upon the statutory scheme set forth in IND.CODE 9-4, the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways. The act governs the placement of warning signs in Indiana, and requires the Indiana State Highway Commission to adopt a manual, specifying a uniform system for traffic control devices, which must be adhered to by all governmental agencies responsible for signing and marking streets and highways within the state. IND.CODE 9-4-1-30; IND.CODE 9-4-2-1. Both the act and the manual clearly make the decision to erect traffic signs, including warning signs, discretionary. Under the act, a traffic control device is defined as "all signs, markings or devices ... placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating, warning, and guiding traffic." (Emphasis added.) IND.CODE 9-4-1-19. The authority to erect a traffic control device can be exercised by the public body or the commissioners only by ordinance after traffic studies and surveys have been conducted.

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Bluebook (online)
517 N.E.2d 805, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 18, 1988 WL 1717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dubois-county-bank-v-city-of-vincennes-indctapp-1988.