L.K.I. Holdings, Inc. v. Tyner

658 N.E.2d 111, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 1567, 1995 WL 698858
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 29, 1995
Docket49A02-9410-CV-622
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 658 N.E.2d 111 (L.K.I. Holdings, Inc. v. Tyner) 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
L.K.I. Holdings, Inc. v. Tyner, 658 N.E.2d 111, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 1567, 1995 WL 698858 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

L.K.I. Holdings, Inc. challenges the trial court's denial of its motion for summary judgment. LKI. also contends the trial court erred when it granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of its co-defendant, the City of Indianapolis.

We affirm.

The facts most favorable to the nonmov-ants are that on February 28, 1992, Sarah Tunney was driving northbound on Broken-hurst Road in Indianapolis. The portion of Brokenhurst Road upon which Tunney was traveling is intersected by Fall Creek Road on the north and Fall Creek Parkway on the south and is approximately 300 feet long. LK.I., an Indiana corporation, constructed and maintained this section of Brokenhurst Road in connection with its development of a residential neighborhood. On the date of the incident, Fall Creek Parkway was a preferential street to Brokenhurst Road. Broken-hurst had not been accepted by the City of Indianapolis as a right-of-way or as part of the public street system.

As Tunney passed through the Fall Creek Parkway intersection, she collided with Douglas Dickson, who had been traveling eastbound on Fall Creek Parkway. A dirt mound constructed by LKI. obstructed the view of vehicles eastbound on Fall Creek Parkway and northbound on Brokenhurst. There were no traffic control signs at the intersection. Jason Tyner, a passenger in the Tunney vehicle, was injured.

Two complaints were filed, the first on behalf of Tyner and the second on behalf of Melissa Sweeney, another of Tunney's passengers. Defendant LKI. and defendant City of Indianapolis each moved separately for summary judgment in the Tyner action. The Tyner and Sweeney actions were subsequently consolidated. The trial court denied L.K.I's motion for summary judgment and granted the City's motion for summary judgment. The relevant portions of the trial court's ruling state:

"City of Indianapolis:
Governmental entities generally have an obligation to the public to maintain public thoroughfares in a safe condition. The government also is given the obligation to place traffic control devices on public highways pursuant to the regulations in the Indiana Manual on Traffic Control Devices. However, neither of these obligations are applicable to private rights of way or property.
Plaintiffs direct the Court's attention to a 1976 Executive Order of then Mayor William Hudaut which gave the [Clity authority to control roads which have not been accepted as "preferential." Does this order create a legal duty upon the City to place stop signs on private roads?
In the case before the Court, the City concedes by implication that the public policy of our fair city favors the placing of traffic control devices on private property when certain conditions are met. The duty owed by the City to the Plaintiffs, if any, is contained in the August 11, 1976 Executive Order No. 2, and not in the common law. What precisely did the City assume as its responsibility for placement of traffic control devices within private developments? The Order states:
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1. The traffic engineer of the City, upon the earliest of the following conditions, *115 should submit to the Transportation Board his recommendations concerning traffic control devices in additions or subdivisions:
a. The streets are formally accepted by the Department of Transportation ("DOT").
b. Eighty-one percent (81%) of the lots in each such subdivision have been built upon, or three (8) years have expired, even though such streets have not been formally accepted by DOT.
c. The developer of such subdivision or addition has notified the DOT in writing that the subdivision or addition, or certain streets therein, have been opened up to the public, and the construction of streets and homes is such that traffic control devices are necessary.
The record designated to the Court shows that the street was not 'accepted' by DOT until after the accident. There is no indication that 81% of the lots were developed. The record shows that construction of the road in question was only nineteen (19) months prior to the accident. Finally, there is no reference to any request by LKI to have the city examine the property for the placement of traffic control devices. Therefore, a search for a statutory or gratuitous duty owed by the City to the Plaintiffs in the said Executive Order is fruitless. On this issue, as a matter of law, the City owes not [sic] duty to the Plaintiffs to have placed a traffic control device on the south side of this intersection. The Plaintiff's [sic] next contend that the City may be liable for its failure to enforce its ordinances regarding the mound of dirt. The Indiana Tort Claims Act expressly exempts the State and its political subdivision[s] from any Hability for its failure to enforce its laws. 1.0. 84-4-16.5-8(7). Summary {Judgment is entered in favor of the City and against the Plaintiffs.
LEKI:
There can be no doubt that LKI had no duty to erect any traffic control device. In fact, the applicable regulations may prohibit such action. However, a developer of land should have known of the existence of City's Executive Order No. 2, which would have allowed LKI to request traffic control at potentially dangerous or convenient places. The duty owed by LKI to a person using its section of Brokenhurst Road is found, generally, in the common law of this State regarding 'public invitees'.
[_-] There is no question of fact regarding the implied invitation of LKI to the Tunney vehicle to come upon its property and use its road. As a matter of law, a landowner owes a duty to a public invitee to exercise reasonable care for the protection of the invitee while he or she is upon the property. Burrell v. Meads, (Ind. 1991) 569 N.E.2d 637. In the case at bar, the 'invitee' was exposed to a mound of dirt which may have obstructed her view and to an uncontrolled intersection, both over which LKI had some control. If the accident complained of had occurred on LKI property, perhaps the question would be much easier to address. However, the accident occurred in the middle of the intersection off of LKI's land. Does the duty LKI owes to public invitees extend past the boundaries of its property? The case of Pitcairn v. Whiteside (1941) 109 Ind.App. 698, 34 N.E.2d 943 stated:
[[The owner of land adjacent to a highway owes a duty to the travelling public to prevent injury to travelers upon the highway from any unreasonable risks created by the property's dangerous condition which the landowner knew or should have known about. Whether this duty is discharged is a question of fact for the jury.['] At p. ___
In other words, if there is a reasonably foreseeable harm to persons using an adjacent road and the victim is reasonably foreseeable, the law will impose a duty upon LKI. The existence of a duty in this case is a mixed question of law and fact which must be resolved by the fact finder. State v. Cornelius, (Ind.App. 5 Dist., 1994) 637 N.E.2d 195.

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Bluebook (online)
658 N.E.2d 111, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 1567, 1995 WL 698858, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lki-holdings-inc-v-tyner-indctapp-1995.