West v. Sundance Development Co.

821 P.2d 240, 169 Ariz. 579, 89 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 66, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 152
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 27, 1991
DocketNo. 2 CA-CV 90-0305
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 821 P.2d 240 (West v. Sundance Development Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
West v. Sundance Development Co., 821 P.2d 240, 169 Ariz. 579, 89 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 66, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 152 (Ark. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

HOWARD, Presiding Judge.

Sundance Development Company (Sun-dance) has appealed from a $650,000 personal injury judgment in favor of Billie Jane West. The accident occurred on a dirt road known as Whispering Pines Drive which was located within the Solitude Pines Subdivision of Gila County near Pine, Arizona. Sundance was the developer of the subdivision and shortly after it acquired land, it rough-cut the road through the forest so that workers and the sales people had access to the subdivision.

Prior to 1985, Sundance prepared plans and specifications for the subdivision and [581]*581submitted those documents to Gila County for approval. Among the proposals contained in the plans and specifications was a promise by Sundance to develop Whispering Pines Drive in conformity with county standards. In light of that promise, Gila County approved the Sundance plans and recorded its plat.

Also prior to 1985, Sundance filed a mandatory Arizona subdivision public report pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 32-2181 and 32-2183. Among its representations in that recorded document were: (1) Sundance would provide all-weather road access to all subdivision lots; (2) Sundance would construct all public roads on or adjacent to the subdivision in conformance with minimum Gila County standards for paved roads; (3) Sundance would build all streets within the subdivision in accordance with the minimum standards of Gila County; and (4) Sundance would surface all the subdivision streets with asphalt by August 15, 1985.

Prior to 1985, Sundance did nothing more than blade the road on occasion and remove large pieces of rock from the roadway. At some point long before West’s accident in 1987, Sundance stopped maintaining the road at all.

On December 9, 1985, Sundance granted Gila County a written “permit for access” to the subdivision for the purpose of performing courtesy blading and road maintenance through the winter of 1985-1986. The permit identified Sundance as the owner of the property and it was granted to the county after the roads were dedicated by the filing of the approved plat. This permit was also expressly contingent upon Sundance holding and saving Gila County free from damages.

Gila County continued its occasional courtesy blading of Whispering Pines Drive even after the permit for access expired. In fact, the county bladed the road within a day before West’s accident.

Sundance was always aware that its road did not meet minimum county standards. It also knew that although numerous people in the area were using the rough-cut roadway, there were no signs, warnings, or other restrictions advising the public that Whispering Pines Drive was hazardous and not in compliance with county standards.

Because Sundance failed to perform the promises of its dedication, Whispering Pines Drive was never accepted into the Gila County road system.

West lived in a subdivision of Gila County which was adjacent to Solitude Pines Subdivision. Whispering Pines Drive was one of the roads she could travel to and from her house. On the evening of March 31, 1987, she had organized and attended a chamber of commerce dinner in Strawberry, Arizona. She arrived sometime after 6 p.m. and departed for home at approximately 9 p.m. Between 7 and 9 p.m. she drank two glasses of white wine with her dinner. The glasses could hold up to six ounces of liquid, but each was only two-thirds full of wine and she had also added two or three spoonfuls of ice to each glass. The accident occurred on the way home from the dinner when the car which West was driving at a speed of approximately 20 to 25 miles per hour struck a large rock which had been left in the roadway. The rock bent a right front wheel and almost immediately flattened the tire, causing her car to spin, slide off the left side of the road, skid down the embankment and finally come to rest after slamming into a large boulder.

The accident broke West’s neck in three places and caused the disk between her C5-C6 vertebrae to slip out of alignment. Eventually it became necessary to stabilize the vertebrae by means of a bone plug which was chiseled from her hip and implanted into her spine. The disk between the C5 and C6 vertebrae was also removed during this surgery. The neck bones were fused together with the bone plug and a metal plate was then permanently screwed down over the entire fusion.

West was hospitalized for two weeks and had to wear a series of neck braces for about three months. Her medical bills for all of these procedures exceeded $22,000 and a detailed itemization of them was admitted at trial without objection. Sun-dance also stipulated that all of those medical bills were reasonable, necessary, and [582]*582incurred as a result of the injuries West sustained in the accident.

West improved slightly for a short while but the pain in her neck and upper extremities eventually returned and she had to take pain medication. She also experienced a marked decrease in the range of motion in her neck and her ability to flex and extend were reduced significantly and so was her ability to rotate her head and move it from side to side. One of West’s doctors, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott, testified that West was having increased pain because the fusion of the C5-C6 joint caused substantial added stress on the C4-C5 joint and that the stress eventually results in slippage of the disk between the C4-C5 vertebrae. He pointed out that such slippage was already apparent on her x-rays. He emphasized that the only way to correct the problem was another surgery to fuse the C4-C5 joint by the same procedure used to fuse the C5-C6 joint.

Dr. Scott added that West was also at risk of substantial future problems regardless of whether she had another operation. He testified that her pain, inflammation and arthritis would accelerate and that she would never regain the full range of motion in her neck. Dr. Scott concluded that West had a 24 percent permanent impairment as a result of the accident.

Dr. Scott further stated that when West’s pain becomes too severe for her, the only option may be a surgical fusion of the C4-C5 vertebrae.

West recognized that her work as a housekeeper was accelerating her problems but she testified that she had no choice but to continue working because she had no other source of income other than her housecleaning money. She acknowledged that her continuing to work would probably necessitate further surgery to fuse her C4-C5 vertebrae.

Sundance tried to show at trial that West was driving under the influence of alcohol and that this was a proximate cause of the accident. However, the investigating officer and both parties’ experts agree that whether West was impaired would not affect her ability to avoid the rock. By the time West’s headlights illuminated the rock, the reaction time of even a sober person would not have permitted stopping the vehicle prior to impact. Furthermore, the only evidence was that West had two to three glasses of wine.1 The investigating officer stated that West showed no signs of impairment. According to him her eyes and speech were clear, she had no trouble communicating, and there was no odor of alcohol.

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Bluebook (online)
821 P.2d 240, 169 Ariz. 579, 89 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 66, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-v-sundance-development-co-arizctapp-1991.