Powell v. NM STATE HWY. & TRANSP. DEPT.

872 P.2d 388, 117 N.M. 415
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 4, 1994
Docket14395
StatusPublished

This text of 872 P.2d 388 (Powell v. NM STATE HWY. & TRANSP. DEPT.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Powell v. NM STATE HWY. & TRANSP. DEPT., 872 P.2d 388, 117 N.M. 415 (N.M. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

872 P.2d 388 (1994)
117 N.M. 415

Gentry POWELL, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
NEW MEXICO STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 14395.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

March 4, 1994.
Certiorari Denied April 6, 1994.

*389 Edward L. Chavez, David J. Stout, Carpenter & Chavez, Ltd., Albuquerque, for plaintiff-appellant.

Stephen S. Hamilton, Montgomery & Andrews, P.A., Santa Fe, for defendant-appellee.

*390 OPINION

DONNELLY, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals from orders granting summary judgment in favor of the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department (the Department), denying Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and upholding the constitutionality of the notice provision of the Tort Claims Act, NMSA 1978, Section 41-4-16(B) (Repl.Pamp.1989). We address Plaintiff's claims that: (1) the Department had actual notice of his claim, and (2) the ninety-day notice provision of the Tort Claims Act violates Plaintiff's constitutional right of access to the courts. We affirm.

On August 1, 1991, Plaintiff was injured when the vehicle in which he was a passenger left the road and struck a blunt-edged guardrail installed and maintained by the Department. The guardrail penetrated the front of the vehicle and exited through the rear of the vehicle. Plaintiff's left leg was severed by the accident.

The police report of the accident indicated that the driver of the vehicle drove his van westerly on Reinken Avenue in Belen at a high rate of speed, crossed the center line, brushed the curb of the eastbound lane, over-corrected, and then drove over a sidewalk and struck a guardrail. The police report stated that "the guardrail traveled through the front of the vehicle and out the back hatch." The report also indicated that the driver had lacerations on his face and complained of abdominal pain; the right-front passenger had extensive injury to his left leg; and the rear passenger sustained head injuries. According to the police report, the factors contributing to the accident were: the speed of the vehicle, the driver's intoxication, and the manner in which the vehicle was driven. The police report did not refer to a road defect as the cause of the accident. The Transportation Statistics Bureau (Statistics Bureau) of the Department received the police report of the accident, although it is unclear when the report was received. Evidence presented by the Department indicated that the Statistics Bureau receives 65,000 to 70,000 accident reports per year.

On the day after the accident, Adan Salas, a maintenance foreman for the Department, stopped at the accident scene and spoke with a police officer who was investigating the accident. Salas stated in a deposition that the police officer told him that "a van went into the guardrail." Salas was uncertain whether the police officer had told him that the guardrail actually had penetrated the vehicle. Salas testified that he did not discuss with the police officer whether the occupants of the vehicle had been injured, or whether the accident might lead to a lawsuit.

Stephen Harris, the District Maintenance Engineer for the Department, also testified by deposition. He stated that a blunt-edged guardrail can be dangerous if it is struck on its end by a vehicle. When Harris was asked whether a blunt-edged guardrail, which penetrated a vehicle and injured someone, would suggest the likelihood of litigation, he responded equivocally, indicating that he would not be surprised if a person injured in such a manner would make a claim against the Department, but also stated that the mere fact that a guardrail was involved in an accident did not necessarily mean that litigation would result.

Plaintiff notified the Department of his intention to file a claim on March 19, 1992. His complaint was filed on May 26, 1992. The Department filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that Plaintiff did not provide timely notice under Section 41-4-16. Responding to the motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff argued that the Department had actual notice of his claim. Plaintiff also filed a motion for summary judgment contending that the ninety-day provision for notice under the Tort Claims Act is unconstitutional. The trial court granted the Department's motion for summary judgment and denied Plaintiff's motion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"Summary judgment is proper if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Roth v. Thompson, 113 N.M. 331, 334, 825 P.2d 1241, 1244 (1992); Trujillo v. Treat, 107 N.M. 58, 59, 752 P.2d 250, 251 (Ct.App. 1988). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, the party opposing *391 the motion for summary judgment must be given the benefit of all reasonable doubt. Trujillo, 107 N.M. at 59, 752 P.2d at 251. All factual disputes and inferences are construed in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. Oldfield v. Benavidez, 116 N.M. 785, 789, 867 P.2d 1167, 1171 (1994). We review the trial court's orders with these standards in mind.

NOTICE

The Tort Claims Act requires that any person claiming damages from a governmental entity must, within ninety days of the occurrence giving rise to the claim, provide written notice to the governmental entity unless the governmental entity has received actual notice. See § 41-4-16(A) & (B). Actual notice to the governmental entity involves actual notice that litigation is likely to ensue, not simply actual notice of the occurrence or accident. Dutton v. McKinley County Bd. of Comm'rs, 113 N.M. 51, 53, 822 P.2d 1134, 1136 (Ct.App.1991); Frappier v. Mergler, 107 N.M. 61, 64-65, 752 P.2d 253, 256-57 (Ct.App.1988). See generally Donald M. Zupanec, Annotation, Actual Notice or Knowledge by Governmental Body or Officer of Injury or Incident Resulting in Injury as Constituting Required Claim or Notice of Claim for Injury—Modern Status, 7 A.L.R.4th 1063, 1066 (1981).

The purpose of the notice provision is to ensure that the agency allegedly at fault is notified that it may be subject to a lawsuit. See New Mexico State Highway Comm'n v. Ferguson, 98 N.M. 680, 681, 652 P.2d 230, 231 (1982); see also City of Las Cruces v. Garcia, 102 N.M. 25, 27, 690 P.2d 1019, 1021 (1984). The governmental entity that is to receive notice is "the particular agency that caused the alleged harm." Ferguson, 98 N.M. at 681, 652 P.2d at 231; Smith v. State ex rel. New Mexico Dep't of Parks & Recreation, 106 N.M. 368, 371, 743 P.2d 124, 127 (Ct.App.1987).

Section 41-4-16(B) provides:

No suit or action for which immunity has been waived under the Tort Claims Act shall be maintained and no court shall have jurisdiction to consider any suit or action against the state or any local public body unless notice has been given as required by this section, or unless the governmental entity had actual notice of the occurrence.

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872 P.2d 388, 117 N.M. 415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/powell-v-nm-state-hwy-transp-dept-nmctapp-1994.