Texas Department of Transportation v. Sanchez

75 S.W.3d 24, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 7098, 2001 WL 1285806
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 24, 2001
DocketNo. 04-01-00267-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 75 S.W.3d 24 (Texas Department of Transportation v. Sanchez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Department of Transportation v. Sanchez, 75 S.W.3d 24, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 7098, 2001 WL 1285806 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Opinion by

SARAH B. DUNCAN, Justice.

The Texas Department of Transportation appeals the trial court’s denial of its plea to the jurisdiction. TXDOT’s appeal requires that we interpret sections 101.056(2) and 101.060(a)(2) of the Texas Tort Claims Act. We hold (1) a traffic [26]*26signal is not “absent” for purposes of section 101.060(a)(2) of the Tort Claims Act unless it was placed in service and subsequently removed; and (2) the State’s setting of the clearance interval for a traffic signal at 3.5 seconds is not a “condition” of a signal for which immunity is waived under the circumstances set out in section 101.060(a)(2). Rather, it is the discretionary selection of the appropriate signal to be used at an intersection for which sovereign immunity is retained under section 101.056(1). We therefore reverse the trial court’s order and render judgment in TXDOT’s favor.

Standard and Scope of Review

We review the trial court’s determination of subject matter jurisdiction, including its construction of pertinent statutes, de novo. See Mayhew v. Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1144, 119 S.Ct. 2018, 143 L.Ed.2d 1030 (1999).“[A] court deciding a plea to the jurisdiction is not required to look solely to the pleadings but may consider evidence and must do so when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issues raised. The court should, of course, confine itself to the evidence relevant to the jurisdictional issue.” Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 555 (Tex.2000).

Factual and PROCEDURAL Background

This wrongful death, survival, and personal injury action arises out of a fatal accident at the intersection of St. Mary’s Street and Stadium Drive in San Antonio. At the time of the accident, traffic at the intersection was controlled with a four section head traffic signal,1 which was installed and maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Plaintiffs allege the accident was caused by TXDOT’s negligence in (1) failing to upgrade the four section head signal to a five section head signal, which would have included an amber left turn arrow; and (2) fading to increase the 3.5 second vehicle change interval between the moment the left turn light was extinguished and the green circular light for oncoming traffic was illuminated. TXDOT filed a plea to the jurisdiction, contending the plaintiffs’ pleadings fail to establish a waiver of sovereign immunity. The trial court denied the motion, and TXDOT appealed.

Discussion

As a general rule, the State (including TXDOT) is immune from suit unless immunity has been waived. Texas Dept. of Transp. v. Able, 35 S.W.3d 608, 611 (Tex.2000). The Texas Tort Claims Act provides that the State waives its sovereign immunity for “personal injury and death so caused by a condition or use of ... real property if the governmental unit would, were it a private person, be liable to the claimant....” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 101.021(2) (Vernon 1997). However, sovereign immunity is not waived for a claim arising from “the absence, condition, or malfunction of a traffic ... signal ... unless the absence, condition, or malfunction is not corrected by the responsible governmental unit within a reasonable time after notice.” Id. § 101.060(a)(2). Nor is sovereign immunity waived for discretionary acts, including “what type of safety features to install” on a roadway. State v. Miguel, 2 S.W.3d 249, 251 (Tex.1999) (per curiam); see Tex. Civ. PRac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.056(2). To establish a waiver of sovereign immunity, [27]*27the plaintiffs contend the lack of an amber left turn arrow on the traffic signal was the “absence” of a traffic signal; and the 3.5 second vehicle change interval was a “condition” of the traffic signal.

“Absence” of Amber Arrow

The plaintiffs contend the lack of an amber arrow constitutes the “absence” of a traffic signal. We disagree. As we have previously noted, “[sjubsection (a)(2) pertains to a sign or warning device that was in place at one time but was subsequently removed.” City of San Antonio v. Schneider, 787 S.W.2d 459, 468 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1990, writ denied). There is no evidence an amber left turn arrow ever existed at the intersection where the accident occurred. Accordingly, it could not have been “absent” at the time of the accident.

Rather than cite this court to Schneider, the plaintiffs rely on Texas Dept. of Transp. v. Bederka, 36 S.W.3d 266 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2001, no pet.), and City of Fort Worth v. Robles, 51 S.W.3d 436 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 2001, pet. filed), in which the courts held “if the traffic device is not installed after the policy decision [to install one] is made, then it would constitute ‘absence’ under 101.060(a)(2).” Id. at 442; see also Bederka, 36 S.W.3d at 272 (“[s]ueh would be the absence of a particular traffic device under 101.060(a)(2)”). Both decisions rely upon Zambory v. City of Dallas, 838 S.W.2d 580 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1992, writ denied). In Robles, the court concluded there was no evidence the city had decided to install a traffic device before the accident, while in Bederka and Zambory the courts concluded there was some evidence the governmental entity had decided to install a traffic device but did not implement that decision before the accident. See Bederka, 36 S.W.3d at 272; Robles, 51 S.W.3d at 442; Zambory, 838 S.W.2d at 582. We need not address whether these decisions correctly reflect Texas law, because the plaintiffs have failed to establish that TXDOT had decided to upgrade the signal.

To support their argument, the plaintiffs cite excerpts from the depositions of Jimmy K Walch, a maintenance worker and later a supervisor in TXDOT’s San Antonio office, and Gilbert Meier, the manager of the traffic signal operations section in TXDOT’s San Antonio office. However, these witnesses did not testify TXDOT had decided to upgrade the signal. Rather, they testified that the signal was on a fist of signals to be upgraded, but it had not yet reached the top of the list. Their testimony is consistent with that of Arnulfo Ramirez, the traffic engineer who supervised and monitored the operation and maintenance of the signal at the intersection where the accident occurred.

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Bluebook (online)
75 S.W.3d 24, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 7098, 2001 WL 1285806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-department-of-transportation-v-sanchez-texapp-2001.