Campbell v. Louisiana Dept. of Transp. & Development
| Decision Date | 17 January 1995 |
| Citation | 648 So.2d 898 |
| Parties | 94-1052 La |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Steven D. Crews, Watson, Murchison, Crews, Arthur & Corkern, Natchitoches, Edward P. Chevallier, Jr., Berkett & Chevallier, Many, and Daniel T. Murchison, Jr., Natchitoches, for applicant.
Ted D. Hernandez, Natchitoches and Richard P. Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., for respondent.
[94-1052 La. 1] MARCUS, Justice. *
Eugene Frazier, Sr. and Grace Frazier filed a wrongful death suit against Richard D. Ledford, his liability insurer, and the state of Louisiana through the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), to recover damages resulting from the death of their son, Robert Lane Frazier, in an automobile accident on La. Highway 6. Robert Campbell also filed a suit against the same defendants to recover damages for his personal injuries resulting from the same automobile accident.
In the early morning hours of January 22, 1989, Ledford was driving west along La. Highway 6 from Natchitoches to Many, Louisiana, returning home from a party in Natchitoches. Frazier and Campbell were guest passengers in the vehicle. Frazier was asleep in the front passenger seat and Campbell was asleep in the back seat. Ledford was on a weekend leave from the Navy and had been visiting his parents who lived in Many. Between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., Ledford fell asleep while he was operating his vehicle. The [94-1052 La. 2] vehicle went off onto the right shoulder as it approached the curve of Crib Creek Bridge. Ledford awakened and turned the vehicle to the left to try to get back on the highway from the shoulder before he entered the bridge. In doing so, the right front tire caught the shoulder causing the vehicle to veer across to the left traffic lane. Ledford could not gain control of the vehicle before the front right passenger side of the vehicle struck the concrete abutment of Crib Creek Bridge resulting in the death of Frazier and injuries to Campbell and Ledford. Crib Creek Bridge did not have guardrails. It is undisputed that Ledford was not intoxicated at the time of the accident.
The two lawsuits were consolidated for purposes of trial. Prior to trial, plaintiffs settled with Ledford and his insurer and dismissed them from the lawsuits. After trial on the merits, the trial judge found Richard Ledford (the driver) 25% at fault and DOTD 75% at fault in causing the death of Frazier and the injuries to Campbell. The trial judge rendered judgment in favor of Eugene Frazier, Sr. and Grace Frazier against DOTD for $112,500 each and in favor of Robert Campbell and against DOTD for $65,101.83 1 DOTD appealed. The court of appeal, with one judge dissenting, amended the judgment to reduce the liability of DOTD from 75% to 10%. 2 Upon plaintiffs' application, we granted certiorari to review the correctness of that decision. 3
The issue presented for our consideration is whether the court of appeal erred in reducing the percentage of fault of DOTD in causing the accident and injuries from 75% to 10%. Plaintiffs [94-1052 La. 3] contend that the trial judge correctly assessed the fault between the parties in that DOTD's failure to place guardrails to prevent collision with the abutment of Crib Creek Bridge was a more substantial factor in bringing about the harm than Ledford's negligence in operating his vehicle.
The parties stipulated to the following facts. La. Highway 6 had been under the supervision and control of DOTD since its construction in the mid or late 1960's. There are fifteen bridges on La. Highway 6 between Natchitoches, Louisiana, and the Louisiana/Texas state line. All of the bridges, with the exception of the Crib Creek Bridge where this accident occurred, currently have guardrails. All of the guardrails placed on the bridges on La. Highway 6 between Natchitoches and the Louisiana/Texas state line were placed on the bridges during overlay work performed on the highway.
At trial, William Hickey, a road design engineer with DOTD, testified that an unexposed concrete bridge abutment presented a danger to motorists. He further testified that the purpose of a guardrail is to prevent a vehicle from impacting into the end of a bridge. In the mid 1960's Louisiana first began placing guardrails on new highway construction in accordance with AASHTO specifications. 4 Since February of 1974, DOTD has been adding guardrails to existing bridges during highway reconstruction or overlay projects in accordance with standard plan GR-54. In 1980, DOTD began an overlay project on La. Highway 6. The first phase was from Many to the Fort Jessup Highway in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. This section of the highway included three bridges, and guardrails were placed on each of these bridges during the overlay project. The second phase in 1981 extended from the Fort Jessup Highway to the Natchitoches Parish/Sabine Parish state line. The only bridge in this section of the highway was Crib Creek Bridge. Guardrails were not added to Crib Creek Bridge during the overlay [94-1052 La. 4] project. Hickey estimated the cost to place guardrails on Crib Creek Bridge during the project to be about $15,000 and further testified that funding would not have been a problem. 5 No recommendation was made at that time to place guardrails on Crib Creek Bridge even though the general policy of DOTD at the time shown by documents admitted into evidence was that guardrails would be added to existing bridges that met certain criteria during overlay work and Crib Creek Bridge met the criteria. Hickey's only explanation of why DOTD policy was not followed on Crib Creek Bridge was that the bridge had aggregate rather than concrete shoulders. Plaintiffs introduced into evidence two inspection reports of Crib Creek Bridge, one in February of 1986 and the other in April of 1988. Both reports recommended that guardrails be placed on the bridge. At the time of the accident in January of 1989, there were no guardrails on Crib Creek Bridge.
Larry Tipton, an auto accident reconstruction expert called by plaintiffs, introduced into evidence a drawing depicting the accident as it occurred and another which was a reconstruction of the accident had guardrails been placed on the bridge. His findings were based on the information in the accident report as well as findings from crash test studies. He testified that had guardrails been placed on the bridge, the impact of the vehicle would have been reduced by 80% or more and the resulting injuries would have been significantly reduced. He further stated that the vehicle would have impacted with the guardrail and been redirected onto the highway. It was his opinion that the facts that Crib Creek Bridge is in a curve and the shoulders of the bridge are aggregate rather than concrete make the bridge more of a hazard than some other bridges he had viewed. Joseph David Blaschke, a highway design safety and accident reconstruction expert called by DOTD, was of the opinion that even if guardrails had been placed on Crib Creek Bridge, the accident would have been significant and the impact of Ledford's vehicle would have been severe, but perhaps [94-1052 La. 5] less so. While not agreeing with Tipton's analysis, he admitted that if Tipton's analysis was correct, the force of the impact would have been substantially reduced and the injuries that resulted would have been different. He also admitted that guardrails are designed to make a highway safer in general to the public.
No one disputes that Ledford was negligent or that his negligence was a substantial cause of the accident. As a driver, Ledford had a duty, which he breached, to use reasonable care in the operation and control of his vehicle. This duty encompassed within its scope the risk that guest passengers might be injured in an accident. Therefore, Ledford is at fault in causing the accident. Molbert v. Toepfer, 550 So.2d 183, 184 (La.1989).
Next, we must determine whether DOTD was at fault. DOTD's liability may arise under a theory of negligence, La.Civ.Code art. 2315, or a theory of strict liability, La.Civ.Code art. 2317. The distinction between recovery under these theories is that under strict liability, the plaintiff is...
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