City of Apsen v. Meserole12/24/1990
We granted certiorari to review Meserole v. City of Aspen, 786 P.2d 456 (Colo. App. 1989). We affirm.
I
At approximately 10:00 p.m. on September 20, 1986, Mary Meserole was walking on the west side of the 200 block of Galena Street in Aspen, Colorado. She tripped over a piece of metal, apparently a remnant of a traffic sign protruding about two inches out of the sidewalk, fell, and was injured. On January 29, 1987, Meserole filed a personal injury complaint against Aspen. In response, the city filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that it was immune from liability for dangerous conditions present on municipal sidewalks. The district court granted that motion and dismissed the complaint.
The court of appeals reversed, 786 P.2d at 458, holding that section 24-10-106(1)(d), 10A C.R.S. (1988), waived sovereign immunity for injuries occurring on municipal sidewalks, and remanded the case to the district court for trial. We granted Aspen's petition for certiorari, and for the reasons below, now affirm the court of appeals.
II
As early as 1893, this court barred tort claims against the government based on the judicial creation of sovereign immunity. Board of County Comm'rs v. Bish, 18 Colo. 474, 33 P. 184 (1893). The rationale for granting sovereign immunity included the vast array of services provided by the government, thereby exposing it to greater potential liability than nongovernmental entities, and the inability of government to decide not to provide services because its potential liability was too great. Lee v. Colorado Dept. of Health, 718 P.2d 221, 227 (Colo. 1986) (Governmental Immunity Act does not violate equal protection clause).
In 1971 we stated that judicially imposed sovereign immunity was inappropriate in a modern society, and abolished governmental immunity at the county, school district, and state levels. Evans v. Board of County Comm'rs, 174 Colo. 97, 482 P.2d 968 (1971); Flournoy v. School Dist. #1, 174 Colo. 110, 482 P.2d 966 (1971); Proffitt v. State, 174 Colo. 113, 482 P.2d 965 (1971). We also said that the General Assembly had the power to restore sovereign immunity in whole or in part, or to place limits on governmental liability. Evans, 174 Colo. at 105, 482 P.2d at 972.
One year later, the General Assembly responded by adopting the Governmental Immunity Act, and the corresponding statute sections 24-10-101 to -117, 10 C.R.S. (1972). In section 24-10-106, the General Assembly waived sovereign immunity for various governmental acts, including:
A dangerous condition which interferes with the movement of traffic on the traveled portion and shoulders or curbs of any public highway, road, street, or sidewalk within the corporate limits of any municipality, or of any highway which is part of the federal interstate highway system or the federal primary highway system, or of any paved highway which is a part of the federal secondary highway system, or of any paved highway which is a part of the state highway system on that portion of such highway, road, street, or sidewalk which was designed and intended for public travel or parking thereon. . . .
ยง 24-10-106(1)(d) (emphasis added). Dangerous condition was defined as:
the physical condition of any public building, public hospital, jail, public highway, road,
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