City & State Found Liable for Trap-Like Hazard at End of Dead-End Road and Misleading Route Sign on Highway
26 Jul 2007
Confused by the sign directing traffic on U.S. Highway 167 along the route to Plain Dealing, Louisiana, Johnnie Stephens mistakenly drove west on Main Street (Fifth Street) in Jonesboro on a dark, misty evening. A dead-end sign 250 feet from the end of Fifth Street did not inform him how soon the street ended, and no barricade or warning confronted him before he drove off the end of the road and into a drainage canal. Stephens and his two passengers suffered injuries in the crash.
As a result of the crash, the passengers sued the town of Jonesboro, the State of Louisiana, and the driver.
The driver also sued the Town and the State. Suits claimed the Town was negligent in not appropriately warning motorists of the hazardous dead end on Fifth Street.
The suits maintained the State was negligent in failing to properly mark the through route to Ringgold, thus misguiding traffic onto Fifth Street. The passengers' suit against Stephens asserted he was negligent in failing to see what he should have seen and in not keeping control of his vehicle. In addition, the Town cross-claimed against the State, maintaining the State had assumed responsibility for proper installation of traffic signs within the Town.
The Second Judicial District Court, Parish of Jackson found the Town, the State, and the driver all at fault in the crash.
When the Town, the passengers, and the driver appealed various aspects of this judgment, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit amended the trial court's decision to reduce the percentage of fault assigned to the driver and increase the fault assigned to the Town. The appellate court also increased the amount of the award to one passenger. Affirming trial court decisions as amended, the appellate court denied an application for rehearing.
This case illustrates the legal responsibility that governmental units may have as a result of creating or maintaining hazards on roads and highways. In this instance, the failure to properly warn of a dead-end and to post proper signage for a route were the hazards alleged by the injured victims.
The driver's conduct was also found to contribute to the happening of the crash. Percentages of fault were assigned to each of the defendants. In many states these percentages determine what portion of a verdict for total damages may be collected from each responsible defendant.
