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City of Amarillo v. Martin6/5/1998
On Application for Writ of Error to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas
Argued on October 9, 1997
Firefighter Brent Clark collided with two vehicles while driving a City of Amarillo fire truck on an emergency call. We must decide whether the City, Clark's employer, may be liable to Erica Martin, the driver of one of the other vehicles, for Clark's simple negligence. The trial court said yes. So did the court of appeals. 912 S.W.2d 349. However, we say no.
I. Facts
Clark was driving the fire truck with warning lights and sirens operating when he approached an intersection. He reduced speed, but drove through the intersection against a red light. He then collided with two vehicles crossing the intersection, one of them Martin's. Martin sued the City for property damage, alleging that Clark negligently failed to maintain a proper lookout, to maintain a safe stopping distance, and to yield the right of way.
Following a bench trial, the trial court rendered judgment for Martin based on a Conclusion of law that Clark had operated the fire truck negligently. The City appealed, arguing that emergency personnel are liable only for reckless conduct, and therefore, the City was entitled to immunity because the trial court found that Clark "was not acting in reckless disregard for the safety of others." The court of appeals affirmed, holding on rehearing that emergency personnel are liable for acts of mere negligence, and, therefore, that the trial court did not err. 912 S.W.2d at 353.
II. Texas Tort Claims Act
Under the common-law doctrine of sovereign immunity, a municipality is immune from tort liability for its own acts or the acts of its agents unless the Texas Tort Claims Act waives immunity. See City of Lancaster v. Chambers, 883 S.W.2d 650, 658 (Tex. 1994). The Tort Claims Act waives sovereign immunity for:
(1) property damage, personal injury , and death proximately caused by the wrongful act or omission or the negligence of an employee acting within his scope of employment if:
(A) the property damage, personal injury or death arises from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle or motor-driven equipment; and
(B) the employee would be personally liable to the claimant according to Texas law . . . .
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.021 (emphasis added). But, the Tort Claims Act includes an exception to this waiver:
This chapter does not apply to a claim arising:
(2) from the action of an employee while responding to an emergency call or reacting to an emergency situation if the action is in compliance with the laws and ordinances applicable to emergency action, or in the absence of such a law or ordinance, if the action is taken with conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the safety of others.
Id. § 101.055.
At the outset, we note that the substantive law in effect at the time of the accident controls. See, e.g., Sadler v. Sadler, 769 S.W.2d 886, 886-87 (Tex. 1989) (per curiam). Under emergency conditions, an emergency vehicle operator is entitled to various privileges. See Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. art. 6701d, § 24(b), repealed by Act of May 1, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 165, § 1, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 1025 (current version at Tex. Transp. Code § 546.001-.005). However, these privileges do "not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect the driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others." Id. § 24(e) (current version at Tex. Tran
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