Washington v. State, Department of Transportation & Development

663 So. 2d 47, 95 La.App. 3 Cir. 14, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1878
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 5, 1995
DocketNo. 95-14
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 663 So. 2d 47 (Washington v. State, Department of Transportation & Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Washington v. State, Department of Transportation & Development, 663 So. 2d 47, 95 La.App. 3 Cir. 14, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1878 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

liAMY, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals the trial court’s grant of Wilson Oil’s motion for summary judgment. We agree with the trial court that there are no material issues of fact in dispute and that Wilson Oil is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s ruling.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

On April 11, 1991, Alice Jackson was driving Dennis Finnister in her vehicle south along Louisiana Highway 923, which runs north-south, in Jonesville, Louisiana. It had been raining and the streets were wet. At approximately noon, they drove by the Sandy Lake Food Mart, which is located on the eastern side of Louisiana Highway 923 where Highway 923 ends forming a T-intersection with Louisiana Highway 126, which runs east-west. At the T-intersection, there is a stop sign that stops traffic on Highway 923 in favor of the traffic on Highway 126. According to |2Mr. Finnister, Ms. Jackson stopped at the stop sign and told Mr. Finnister that she was unable to see to her left (or east down Highway 126), because her view was obscured by vehicles parked in the parking lot of the Sandy Lake Food Mart. Ms. Jackson pulled forward and stopped three or four times and then she pulled into the T-intersection to execute a left-handed turn from Highway 923 into the east-bound lane of Highway 126. During the turn, Roger Reeves’ truck, which, was alleged to have been speeding and was traveling west along Highway 126, struck the driver’s side of Ms. Jackson’s vehicle. Ms. Jackson died that afternoon as a result of the injuries she sustained in the crash.

On June 19, 1991, Elvira Washington, as legal tutrix of Ms. Jackson’s two minor children, brought a survival and wrongful death action for their, mother’s death on their behalf. Plaintiff named the following defendants: (1) Roger Reeves; (2) Louisiana Indemnity Insurance Company (Roger Reeve’s insurer); (3) State of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; and (4) Wilson Oil Company, Inc., d/b/a the Sandy Lake Food Mart, which owns the store locat[49]*49ed at the intersection of Louisiana Highway 923 and Louisiana Highway 126.

In plaintiffs petition, she alleged that Wilson Oil was negligent by failing to keep its premises reasonably safe; failing to remove from its premises items contributing to the obstruction of traffic; failing to prevent its customers from parking along a major intersection known to be dangerous; and failing to regard the safety of motorists using the highways by placing advertisements in a position to obstruct the motorists’ view. The record indicates that these allegations refer to (1) a Budweiser beer truck alleged to have been either illegally parked on the ten foot shoulder that borders Highway 126 on its north side in front of the Sandy Lake Food Mart, or legally parked in the parking lot in front of the Sandy Lake Food Mart inside a Igconcrete curb, which separates Highway 126’s shoulder from the Sandy Lake Food Mart parking lot; (2) vehicles that allegedly were legally parked inside the concrete curb parking lot of the Sandy Lake Food Mart; and (3) a Marlboro cigarette sign, which allegedly was either on the ten foot shoulder along Highway 126 or inside the parking lot in front of the Sandy Lake Food Mart inside the concrete curb.

On February 17, 1994, Wilson Oil filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that there were no material facts in dispute and that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because it owed no legal duty to Ms. Jackson under any resolution of the facts that plaintiff alleges are in dispute. On September 12, 1994, the trial court granted Wilson Oil’s motion for summary judgment and assigned written reasons:

In this case the court is asked to determine whether or not the defendant may be held legally responsible for the death of a motorist at an intersectional collision where the defendant owns and operates a business at the intersection.... The parking lot was built prior to the time that Wilson Oil acquired the property in 1987. In 1982, the previous owner of the property constructed concrete curbing on the corners of the parking lot to prevent cars from cutting across the parking lot. The curbing was constructed pursuant to state specifications and requirements.... Guidance and direction for building the curb at the edge of the parking lot came from ... a long time employee with the Department of Transportation and Development. The curbed parking lot is adjacent to the shoulder of Highway 126, and ten feet from the edge of the highway (the shoulder being ten foot [sic] wide). With cars parked in the parking lot when one is stopped at the intersection of Highways 923 and 126, the view of the highway [down Highway 126 to the east] is clear for up to 800 feet.
Wilson Oil, by the use of its parking lot as authorized by the State of Louisiana, has not interfered with the use of the highway regardless of whether there were parked ears and signs in the parking lot. Even if the view is obstructed, the motorist must use care when entering the intersection. ... where parking facilities, buildings or other structures restrict the view when entering an intersection_ it is incumbent on motorists to exercise greater care when Lapproaching the intersection. Finally, there is not evidence which would indicate that cars parked on the shoulder of the highway were parked there with the consent ... of Wilson Oil. In such a case, Wilson Oil cannot be held responsible for cars that are parked on the shoulder of the road even if those cars are parked there to use petitioner’s property.
Based on the undisputed facts in the case herein and the applicable law, Wilson Oil cannot be held to be at fault in causing the tragic accident that took Ms. Jackson’s life. As such the motion for summary judgment is granted dismissing Wilson Oil at petitioner’s costs.

Plaintiff timely perfected this appeal, contending that the trial court erred in granting Wilson Oil’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff argues that the summary judgment was improper because the trial court failed to consider two facts that she contends are in dispute and are material: (1) Whether a Marlboro advertising sign on Wilson Oil’s property could have obstructed or impeded Ms. Jackson’s vision; and (2) Whether Wilson Oil permitted a Budweiser beer truck to [50]*50illegally park on the shoulder on Wilson Oil’s property along Highway 126, preventing drivers from having a clear line of sight down Highway 126 when turning left from Highway 923. In response, Wilson Oh argues that the trial court properly granted its motion for summary judgment because under any possible resolution of the facts that plaintiff contends are in dispute, it did not owe a duty to Ms. Jackson and, as a consequence, it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

ANALYSIS

A party is entitled to a summary judgment when he bears the burden of proving that “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(B); American Bank v. Saxena, 553 So.2d 836 (La.1989); Jewell v. Thompson, 386 So.2d 689 (La.App. 3 Cir.), writ denied, 393 So.2d 746 (La.1980).

Plaintiff argues that whether a Marlboro advertising sign on Wilson Oil’s property could have obstructed or impeded Ms.

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Related

Bradford v. Kaster
732 So. 2d 827 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
Washington v. STATE, DEPT. OF TRANSP. & DEV.
663 So. 2d 47 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
663 So. 2d 47, 95 La.App. 3 Cir. 14, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/washington-v-state-department-of-transportation-development-lactapp-1995.