 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Folz v. State8/8/1990
RANSOM, Justice.
This wrongful death and personal injury action was brought against the state and its agency, the Highway Department, and against Slurry Seal, Inc., a highway construction company. Plaintiffs claimed that negligence in the control of traffic at
a mountain-site construction project contributed to deaths and injuries from a runaway truck driven by Enrique Peters. A verdict of $651,686.85 was rendered against the Department. Under the Tort Claims Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 41-4-1 to -27 (Repl. Pamp. 1989), the statutory immunity from tort liability enjoyed by a governmental entity does not apply to highway maintenance. Section 41-4-11(A). Liability, however, is limited to $500,000 "for all claims arising out of a single occurrence," Section 41-4-19(A)(3), and no judgment may include an award for exemplary or punitive damages. Section 41-4-19(B).
We issued our writ of certiorari to the court of appeals to review (1) whether the "single occurrence" limit of $500,000 applies to the sum of damages caused by the runaway truck's successive and separate collisions with multiple vehicles; (2) whether the bar to punitive damages against the Department affects the mandate of the New Mexico uniform jury instruction on wrongful death that, in fixing the amount of damages it deems fair and just, the jury should include in its award compensation for "mitigating or aggravating circumstances" attending the wrongful act, neglect, or default, SCRA 1986, ยง 13-1830; and (3) whether, to recover for severe shock from witnessing the death of her husband and fatal injuries to her son, an injured passenger in one of the automobiles was required to prove by expert medical testimony, or otherwise, a physical manifestation of her emotional injury .
We affirm the court of appeals in its application of the "single occurrence" limit of $500,000; we reverse its finding of error in the trial court's wrongful death instruction that included a reference to "aggravating circumstances;" and we take this opportunity to reexamine the tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress articulated in . Specifically, we reject the Ramirez requirement that " here must be some physical manifestation of, or physical injury to the plaintiff resulting from the emotional injury."
In 1981 the Department contracted with Slurry Seal to resurface a mountainous portion of Highway 82 between Cloudcroft and Alamogordo. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants knew or should have known this portion of the highway contained steep downhill grades and had a history of runaway trucks, and that they were negligent in failing to design and implement an appropriate traffic-control plan for the project. On July 22, 1981, Slurry Seal was working on a stretch of highway that ran between milepost 8.1 to the east and a tunnel to the west. For some distance east and west beyond milepost 8.1 and the tunnel, the construction company had placed a series of signs warning motorists to be prepared to stop. As the work crew resurfaced the eastbound (uphill) lane, an escort vehicle was to shuttle traffic alternately up and down the westbound lane.
At the time of the tragedy giving rise to this lawsuit, the escort vehicle was proceeding uphill through the construction site, leading a line of seven to twelve eastbound vehicles. A flagman at the uphill end of the construction had stopped about ten westbound cars when there came into view a heavily-laden truck proceeding at great speed downhill in the westbound lane. Its wheels were smokin
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|