P. Angell, individually and as Administratrix v. J.F. Dereno, Ross Twp.. and West View Borough

134 A.3d 1173, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 121, 2016 WL 913139
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 10, 2016
Docket458 C.D. 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 134 A.3d 1173 (P. Angell, individually and as Administratrix v. J.F. Dereno, Ross Twp.. and West View Borough) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
P. Angell, individually and as Administratrix v. J.F. Dereno, Ross Twp.. and West View Borough, 134 A.3d 1173, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 121, 2016 WL 913139 (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge MARY .HANNAH LEAVITT.

Pamela Angelí, individually and as ad-ministratrix of the estate of. Thomas W-Bauer, Jr, (Decedent), appeals two orders of the Court, of Common Pleas of. Allegheny County (trial court) granting summary judgment to Ross Township and West View Borough (collectively, Municipalities), -defendants in Angell’s tort action. Angelí seeks to recover damagés for-her son’s death, which she attributes to the dangerous, condition- of -a-road .where her son’s motorcycle was clipped by an oncoming truck, within feet of-the boundary, between Ross Township and West View Borough. Angell’s expert opined that had the Municipalities -installed traffic, control devices, the fatal accident would not have occurred. Angelí contends that the trial court erred in dismissing the Municipalities from her action by finding facts that were for a jury to decide and by not -giving her expert’s report and deposition evidence any probative value. For the reasons that follow, we reverse both orders. .

Background

The accident occurred on Bellevue Avenue, a narrow two-lane, two-way road without shoulders or a center line marking. Bellevue Avenue runs through a residential neighborhood, and the Municipalities permit parking on one side of the road, which further narrows the room for passing vehicles. 2 Bellevue Avenue, which runs north and south, meets Schwitter Avenue in a T-shaped intersection. The boundary, line between the Municipalities bisects Bellevue Avenue in the middle of the crossing with Schwitter Avenue. Bellevue north of the intersection lies in Ross Township, and Bellevue south of the intersection lies in West View Borough.

The -intersection of Schwitter Avenue and Bellevue Avenue is located at the top pf a hill. After crossing the boundary from West View Borough to Ross Township, Bellevue immediately descends a steep hill. Vehicles traveling in either di-’ rection on Bellevue cannot see oncoming *1176 vehicles until they reach the crest of the hill at the intersection with Schwitter, where both roads are level.

On May 9, 2011, in mid-day, Decedent was heading down the hill on Bellevue on his motorcycle. At the same time, James F. Dereno was heading up the hill in his pickup truck. Just below the intersection of Bellevue and Schwitter, in Ross Township, Decedent collided with Dereno. Der-eno’s left front bumper hit Decedent’s motorcycle, doing minor damage to Dereno’s truck. However, the force of the impact was enough to cause Decedent’s motorcycle to fly over the guardrail on the east side of Bellevue and land at the bottom of the steep embankment protected by the guardrail. Decedent was 19 years old.

Angelí filed a wrongful death and survival action against Dereno, Ross Township and West View Borough. Her complaint alleged that Dereno “negligently traveled] in the Decedent’s lane or the middle of the road so as to cause the collision with the Decedent.” First Amended Complaint, ¶ 18(a); Reproduced Record at 29a (R.R. _). Her complaint also alleged that the fatal accident was the direct, legal and proximate result of the Municipalities’ negligence:

a. In failing to properly design, maintain, supervise and control Bellevue Avenue;
b. In allowing parking on the side(s) of Bellevue Avenue (particularly the south bound side), thus turning the two-way Avenue into a single lane; and
c. In failing to place signs' or otherwise warn the public, such as the Plaintiff Decedent, of the dangerous Avenue condition; and
d. In failing to correct the dangerous condition in a reasonable time when it could be charged with actual notice or could reasonably be eharge[d] with notice of the dangerous condition.

First Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 25, 32; R.R. 32a, 34a. The alleged dangerous condition consisted of the narrowness of Bellevue Avenue and the limited sight distance caused by the hill. First Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 13-14; R.R. 28a.

The complaint asserted that Angell’s claim against the Municipalities fell within the “streets” exception to governmental immunity found in a chapter of the Judicial Code that is commonly referred to as the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (Tort Claims Act), 42 Pa.C.S. § 8542(b)(6). Section 8542(b)(6)® provides that a local agency may be liable for a “dangerous condition of streets owned by the local agency....” 42 Pa.C.S. § 8542(b)(6)®.

All the defendants filed answers denying liability, and the parties engaged in discovery. At his deposition, Dereno testified that he lives on Bellevue Avenue in West View Borough and has driven on that road “at least two, three times a day seven days a week ... since July of ’07.” R.R. 262a. Dereno testified that Bellevue is dangerous because of the limited sight distance caused by the hill and the narrowness of the roadway. He testified that he slows down when heading up Bellevue towards the intersection because people turning from Schwitter cannot see oncoming vehicles on Bellevue. He acknowledged telling police on the day of the accident that he had been moving towards the center of the road. He did so to avoid vehicles that are often parked on the west side of Bellevue, in both Municipalities, and cannot be seen because of the limited sight distance. As it happened, there were no cars parked on his side of Bellevue that day. Dereno could not be sure he was in his own lane at the moment of collision because there are no lane markings. Dereno believed that a stop sign on Bellevue at the top of the hill *1177 on the West View side of The boundary would have made a difference because it “would make people stop and actually look and [give] the other person time to get' to the crest” on the Ross Township side. R.R. 256a.

Angelí also lives on Bellevue Avenue, as did her son before his death. 3 She testified that Bellevue is dangerous at its intersection with Schwitter. Angelí described the road as a “perfect storm” for an accident because of “the slope, the blindness, the narrowness.” R.R. 265a. She had warned Decedent, who lived with her, about the danger. Angelí did not know whether cars had been parked on Bellevue Avenue at the time of the accident.

Angelí secured affidavits from neighbors Antonia Mahon, Tod Morrow, Wayne Ken-nelly and Barbara Kennelly. All described seeing officers, from both Municipalities patrolling the intersection of Bellevue and Schwitter before the fatal accident. Ma-hon attested that prior to the accident, she-personally tried to get West View to install a stop sign on Bellevue at the top of the hill before it crossed Schwitter. Barbara Kennelly attested that she has witnessed several vehicle accidents at the Schwitter and Bellevue intersection. Prior to the fatal accident, she complained to West View about the dangers posed by the hill on Bellevue and its intersection with Schwit-ter. After the fatal accident, both Municipalities installed warning signs on opposite sides of Bellevue stating “Danger Blind Hill Slow.”

The Municipalities filed separate motions for summary judgment.

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134 A.3d 1173, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 121, 2016 WL 913139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/p-angell-individually-and-as-administratrix-v-jf-dereno-ross-twp-pacommwct-2016.