Queen v. City of Douglasville

500 S.E.2d 918, 232 Ga. App. 68, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1889, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 597
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedApril 3, 1998
DocketA97A1936
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 500 S.E.2d 918 (Queen v. City of Douglasville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Queen v. City of Douglasville, 500 S.E.2d 918, 232 Ga. App. 68, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1889, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 597 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

Beasley, Judge.

This is an action for damages arising from an incident in which two young girls were struck by a train while attending an Independence Day parade held by defendant City of Douglasville. The Independence Day parade through downtown Douglasville has been held for more than 30 years. Since 1992 the parade has been planned and sponsored by defendant. The parade route which has not changed over the years uses the main thoroughfare through the center of the city which is known alternately as Highway 78, Bankhead Highway, and in the business district, as Broad Street.

Both parallel and adjacent to the parade route section of Highway 78 is the right-of-way and rail line of Norfolk Southern Railway Company. There is a grassy slope, from the railroad line down to the highway, which is a favored viewing spot for parade spectators.

On July 4, 1994, the two girls, Lisa Michelle Queen, age ten, and Rebecca Ann Queen, age twelve, accompanied their parents and little brother to Douglasville. They parked at a business location on Highway 78, then walked across and along that highway on the grassy median area separating it from the railroad tracks until they reached their desired spot for observing the parade. As they had arrived early, they were able to walk near the highway curb and their chosen observation position was at the highway curb. The family did not walk on or cross the railroad track in reaching their position at the curb.

Since the area where the family wanted to sit was damp, Lisa and Rebecca were sent back to the family vehicle to get a poncho to sit on. The girls returned to the vehicle by reversing the route they had come with their family. But on their return to the parade route, after they crossed Highway 78 they proceeded on across 45-50 feet of the grassy median and onto the railroad tracks. The girls walked on the railroad tracks looking down and talking. While they had no audible warning of the approaching train, Rebecca eventually looked up, saw the train, and jumped away from the tracks but reached back for her baseball cap; her arm was struck by the train. Lisa was hit by the train and killed.

Ronnie H. Queen, the girls’ father, filed this action for the wrongful death of Lisa and for the injuries received by both girls. Claims against Norfolk Southern Railway Company have been dis[69]*69missed with prejudice. The amended complaint seeks damages from the City on theories of nuisance, negligence, premises liability, and mantrap. The City’s motion for summary judgment was granted, and Queen appeals.

1. Nuisance. We reverse the grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant. Instructive authority is the factually similar case of Grier v. City of Atlanta, 200 Ga. App. 575 (408 SE2d 794) (1991) in which this Court reversed a grant of summary judgment on a nuisance claim based on the maintenance of a public park bisected by a rail line. The parade route in the current case did not cross the rail line, but conduct of a public gathering of 10,000 or more persons along a parade route within 50 to 75 feet of a rail line on which trains were authorized to travel at up to 50 mph may have involved even more dangerous conditions than in Grier, where the train was subject to a speed limit of 10 mph.

Similarly to Grier, the evidence in this case shows a large level of pedestrian traffic across the rail line. Those who parked or lived on the opposite side of the tracks but desired to attend the parade often walked across the tracks with their families. Others watched the parade from the far side of the tracks. There was a large number of children of all ages at the parade, many of whom were not closely supervised and went on the tracks.

“In City of Bowman v. Gunnells, 243 Ga. 809, 811 (2) (256 SE2d 782) (1979), [the Supreme] Court established guidelines for determining whether a municipality will be liable for creating or maintaining a nuisance: the defect or degree of misfeasance must exceed mere negligence (as distinguished from a single act); the act complained of must be of some duration and the maintenance of the act or defect must be continuous or regularly repetitious; and there must be a failure of municipal action within a reasonable time after knowledge of the defect or dangerous condition.” Hibbs v. City of Riverdale, 267 Ga. 337, 338 (478 SE2d 121) (1996).

The City contends that Queen has failed to describe a dangerous defect which it has created and maintained, but this is simply incorrect. The nuisance claim arises from misfeasance in the holding of the parade in an area which would cause congestion along the rails where trains would be running at high speed and is not predicated upon mere failures to act. There is evidence that the congestion and pedestrian traffic on and about the rail line had occurred in connection with the parade in prior years and that the City was well aware of these circumstances. And the dangerous conditions had been regularly repeated with each year’s parade, although the 1994 parade was even more dangerous due to an increase in the speed limit applicable to passing trains.

The Grier decision disposes of two additional arguments submit[70]*70ted by defendant. The fact that the injuries occurred on property owned by the railroad presents no bar to plaintiffs nuisance claim. The fact that there had been no prior occasion of injury on the railway tracks caused by the alleged nuisance does not support the grant of summary judgment on the nuisance issue. Id. at 576. Genuine issues of material fact remain for resolution by a jury on Queen’s nuisance claim.

2. Negligence. In concluding that there was no evidence of the City’s negligence, the superior court relied upon the public duty doctrine set forth in City of Rome v. Jordan, 263 Ga. 26 (426 SE2d 861) (1993). The summary judgment being appealed was entered before the decision in Hamilton v. Cannon, 267 Ga. 655, 656 (1) (482 SE2d 370) (1997), which limits the public duty doctrine to police officers and to police protection. The alleged negligent conduct goes beyond issues of police protection to the choices made by the City in planning the parade.

“Whether one who causes a crowd or group of people to foregather for some purpose such as a parade is liable for an injury suffered by one spectator . . . depends on the circumstances, and becomes a jury question where the minds of reasonable men differ as to whether the defendant was negligent in maintaining the premises, in controlling the crowd after notice of potential danger, or in failing to exercise ordinary care to anticipate and guard against injury the proximate cause of which is within its control.” Armburst v. Cox Broadcasting Corp., 117 Ga. App. 381, 382 (160 SE2d 609) (1968).

There was evidence that the City recognized the hazard posed by conducting the parade in close proximity to the rail line but continued to use the traditional route in order to pass the downtown commercial district and did so without providing any protection from this hazard. The negligence claim presents genuine issues of material fact for resolution by a jury.

In connection with the negligence claim, we note that the City has liability insurance covering the parade. See OCGA § 36-33-1.

3. Premises liability and mantrap. The trial court’s judgment is affirmed with respect to the theory of premises liability.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hancock v. Bryan County Board of Education
522 S.E.2d 661 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)
Queen v. City of Douglasville
516 S.E.2d 379 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)
Rowe v. Coffey
515 S.E.2d 375 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1999)
Georgia Military College v. Santamorena
514 S.E.2d 82 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)
City of Douglasville v. Queen
514 S.E.2d 195 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
500 S.E.2d 918, 232 Ga. App. 68, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1889, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/queen-v-city-of-douglasville-gactapp-1998.