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Degges v. State ex rel Dep't of Transportation and Development9/21/2005
Before GASKINS, PEATROSS & DREW, JJ.
This appeal arises out of an automobile accident that occurred in Bastrop, Louisiana which killed William Trippe and left his daughter, Terri Degges, and grandson, Joshua Degges, severely injured. After a one-week trial, the jury found that no conduct of the DOTD created an unreasonably dangerous condition at the intersection where the accident occurred and apportioned 100% of the fault for the accident to Mr. Trippe. Ms. Degges and her son appeal the jury's finding, arguing that an unreasonably dangerous condition existed at the time of the accident and the that DOTD should bear some of the liability of this case. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm.
FACTS
On March 19, 1999, at approximately 7:00 p.m., following a shopping trip to the local Wal-Mart in Bastrop, Louisiana, Mr. Trippe, his daughter, Ms. Degges, and her 13-year-old son, Joshua, were involved in an automobile accident that killed Mr. Trippe and left the two passengers with serious injuries. The Trippe/Degges vehicle was second in line at the East Madison Street stop light as they exited the Wal-Mart parking lot. Unfortunately, at the precise moment their vehicle was attempting its exit, the traffic control system at East Madison Street changed its function as an ordinary sequenced light (a traditional red-yellow-green light) to a flashing control (which gave a yellow flashing signal to traffic on East Madison and a red flashing signal to traffic exiting from the Wal-Mart parking lot.) The lead car entered traffic and narrowly escaped a collision; however, the Trippe/Degges vehicle was struck by an oncoming 18-wheeler. The collision killed Mr. Trippe and left Ms. Degges and Joshua with severe injuries.
On July 7, 1999, Ms. Degges and her four siblings filed suit in Morehouse Parish for wrongful death of their father (she also made claims regarding her own injuries and those of Joshua). At the time of trial, all defendants, with the exception of the DOTD, had been dismissed.
During trial, Sgt. Anthony Evans of the Bastrop Police Department testified that there were no vision impediments or any road defects that contributed to the collision. Following the trial court's ruling, Ms. Degges, et al (collectively referred to as "Ms. Degges" for our purposes) filed a motion for judgment n.o.v., which was denied.
DISCUSSION
Assignment of Error One (verbatim): The trial court erred in concluding that no conduct of the DOTD created an unreasonably dangerous condition at the intersection.
Ms. Degges initially points out that the East Madison traffic signal was installed in 1987 and the sequenced signal was (originally) designed to flash between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. After a study by the district traffic engineer in 1991, the sequence was changed from 7:00 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. to reflect the change in traffic conditions after the Wal-Mart was built. (She notes that, in February 1997, an accident occurred at the intersection which required the DOTD to repair the traffic signal. The crew making the repair set the traffic timer back to 7:00 p.m. rather than 9:15 p.m. because the DOTD paperwork did not reflect the 1991 change.)
She further cites a balancing test that courts have developed for determining whether or not a particular condition is "unreasonably dangerous." In Entrevia v. Hood, 427 So. 2d 1146 (La. 1983), the court stated, inter alia:
t has been suggested that a useful approach in a case under article 2317 might be to ask the following: If the custodian of the thing is presumed to have knowledge of its condition before plaintiff's injury, would he then have been acting reasonabl
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