Coates v. Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative Inc.6/16/1999
Irene Coates, et al. v. Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc., et al. No. 100, Sept. Term, 1998
Nature and extent of duty on part of utility not to place poles in such proximity to roadways as to endanger persons and vehicles traveling on the roadway; utility may ordinarily anticipate that travelers will use the road in a lawful and reasonable manner.
Eldridge and Cathell, JJ., join
This appeal arises out of a tragic one-car accident that occurred just after midnight on August 19, 1991. The vehicle, driven by George Thompson, went out of control, left the road, and struck a utility pole, killing one passenger, Mary Ann Coates, and injuring another, Mary Ann's minor daughter, Lavita Coates. Lavita Coates was pregnant at the time and lost the baby as a result of the accident.
BACKGROUND
A number of lawsuits were filed by appellant, Irene Coates, Mary Ann's mother. The one that concerns us is against Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SMECO), the owner of the pole that was struck. Ms. Coates, suing for herself individually and in a representative capacity for Mary Ann, Lavita, Lavita's sister, and Lavita's unborn child, claimed that SMECO was negligent in placing the pole, as constructed, only three feet, three inches from the traveled portion of the roadway. The Circuit Court for Charles County, finding that SMECO owed the plaintiffs no duty of care, granted the utility's motion for summary judgment. We accepted appellate jurisdiction prior to argument in the Court of Special Appeals and shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
Thompson was driving his employer's pickup truck north on Olivers Shop Road in Bryantown. He, Mary Ann, and Lavita were seated abreast in the front seat, Mary Ann in the middle and Lavita next to the passenger's door. Olivers Shop Road is a rural county highway, described as "hilly and twisty," with one lane in each direction. In the area where the accident occurred, it has no shoulder. The width of the roadway at that point was stated to be 21 feet, three inches. The northbound lane was 10 feet, two inches, and the southbound lane was 11 feet, one inch. The road had a double yellow center line, white edge lines, and a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour. The roadside consists of grass and vegetation.
Thompson, who had lived in the area for a long time, traveled the road frequently and was familiar with it. On the night of the accident, it was drizzling, and the road was wet. The rear tires on the truck were "kind of bald," and the back end of the truck slid "a little bit" when Thompson applied the brakes. After successfully negotiating a number of turns, Thompson went over a bridge and then entered a turn to the left, slowing, he said, to between 25 and 30 miles per hour. When he hit a "dip" in the road, the truck began to slide, eventually spinning out of control, counter-clockwise, across both the center line and the southbound lane and coming to rest when it hit the southern face of the pole broadside. The entire truck was then off the road. As indicated, although the issue of damages has not been resolved, and thus no judgment has been entered against Thompson, through the granting of Coates's partial motion for summary judgment as to liability, the court found, as a matter of law, that Thompson was negligent and that his negligence was a cause of the accident. That negligence was based on his failure to control the speed of the truck, both generally and when approaching and going around curves.
The pole had been installed by SMECO in 1954, pursuant to both permission from the county and a private easement. The county's assent was initially given, in 192
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