Gray v. State Farm Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 13 January 2021
• Docket Number: No. 53,554-CA,53,554-CA
• Citation: 310 So.3d 768
• Parties: Joey M. GRAY and Carolyn Gray Plaintiffs-Appellants v. STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY, Patrick W. Johnson, Murray R. Harper, and State of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Defendants-Appellees
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

310 So.3d 768

Joey M. GRAY and Carolyn Gray Plaintiffs-Appellants

v.STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY, Patrick W. Johnson, Murray R. Harper, and State of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Defendants-Appellees

No. 53,554-CA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered January 13, 2021

WALTERS, PAPILLION, THOMAS, CULLENS, LLC, By: Darrel J. Paplillion, Renee C. Crasto, Baton Rouge, LAW OFFICES OF JIM NORRIS, By: Alan J. Norris, Counsel for Appellants

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL, By: Wm. David Coffey, Mandeville, C. Bryan Racer, Phillip J. Ellis Counsel for Appellees

Before PITMAN, COX, and BLEICH (Pro Tempore), JJ.

BLEICH, J. (Pro Tempore)

The plaintiffs, Joey M. Gray and Carolyn Gray, appeal a district court judgment granting a directed verdict in favor of the defendant, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development ("DOTD"). For the following reasons, we reverse and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTS

This matter arises out of an automobile accident that occurred in Ouachita Parish on November 12, 2007. The defendant, Patrick Johnson ("Johnson"), was driving a black Chevrolet Tahoe southbound on Louisiana Highway 34, a two-lane road. Donna Lawrence, the driver of a red Pontiac, had activated her left turn signal and was waiting to execute a left turn into her driveway. Johnson, who testified that he was driving 55-60 miles per hour, did not notice Lawrence's vehicle until he was directly behind it. Johnson swerved onto the right shoulder to avoid colliding with Lawrence's vehicle. While swerving, Johnson saw a brick mailbox belonging to the defendants, Murray Harper, Edmond Harper, and Troy Harper ("the Harpers"). Johnson attempted to avoid hitting the mailbox by veering back onto the highway. However, the right rear panel of Johnson's SUV struck the mailbox, demolishing it. Thereafter, Johnson continued swerving to the left and entered the northbound lane. He struck a minivan driven by the plaintiff, Joey Gray ("Joey"); the plaintiff, Carolyn Gray ("Carolyn"), Joey's wife, was a passenger in the vehicle. After the collision, the plaintiffs’ minivan rolled over, and Joey was ejected from the vehicle. Joey sustained significant and extensive injuries. Carolyn also sustained serious physical injuries and emotional distress.¹

At the center of this dispute is the mailbox the Harpers constructed in 1981. The mailbox was built with bricks and mortar and was placed on a concrete pad foundation. In 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ("AASHTO") published a 37-page document entitled "A Guide for Erecting Mailboxes on Highways."² The guidelines referenced fatal accidents that occur in the United States due to vehicles striking mailboxes when the design and support of the mailbox contributed to the severity of the accident. The document stated, in pertinent part:

The typical single mailbox installation is not a serious threat to motorists. [I]t is the massive structures, such as the masonry columns, railroad rails and ties, tractor wheels, plow blades, concrete filled barrels, etc., sometimes used to support mailboxes, that turn a single mailbox installation into a lethal roadside obstacle that should be eliminated.

Recently mailboxes of heavy gauge steel or other substantial materials have been designed and sold as deterrents to vandalism. These massive boxes ... are quite resistant to deformation. However, these boxes are potentially hazardous to occupants of errant vehicles regardless of the support used[.]

DOTD began implementing the AASHTO guidelines in 1987.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Johnson, his automobile insurer, State Farm Insurance Company, Murray Harper, and DOTD.³ The plaintiffs alleged, inter alia : Johnson committed various acts of negligence, including failure to maintain control of his vehicle and failure to follow traffic ordinances; the Harpers constructed a mailbox that constituted an unreasonable risk of harm to motorists and failed to comply with standards, guidelines, rules, and specifications adopted by DOTD and AASHTO; and DOTD negligently allowed "the large, heavy, brick mailbox to be situated as constructed on the shoulder and right-of-way of Highway 34." The plaintiffs also asserted that DOTD had actual and constructive notice of the existence of the mailbox "through its inspectors and employees that periodically would inspect, repair, overlay, and who traveled Highway 34."⁴

The plaintiffs settled their claims with Johnson, the Harpers, and their respective insurers; those parties were dismissed from the lawsuit. The matter proceeded to trial with DOTD as the sole defendant. Prior to trial, the parties entered into a "Joint Stipulation of Facts," which provided as follows:

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21. The installation of the mailbox on LA Highway 34 at milepost 77.1 was brick on a concrete pad foundation. The installation was made in 1981.

22. The [AASHTO] guidelines for the placement of brick mailboxes on highway [sic]. DOTD should have been aware by 1985 that mailboxes such as this one were roadside hazards, and in 1986, DOTD began implementing AASHTO regulations for newly constructed mailboxes. In 1987, DOTD received notice that federal funds were available for removal of hazardous mailboxes, and therefore, DOTD could have begun removal at the time.

23. The Harper mailbox failed to meet standards, guidelines, rules and specifications adopted by the Louisiana DOTD and [AASHTO]. AASHTO is a standard-setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which were used in highway design and construction throughout the United States.

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The defendant, Patrick Johnson, did not testify during the trial. However, his pretrial deposition was read to the jury in its entirety. Johnson testified as follows:

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I was proceeding down the highway, and I realized that there was someone stopped in front of me. I really – I can't remember if it was – it seemed that – seemed that it was a fairly sudden stop, and that's fairly common on that highway because there is no – people just stop and sit and wait for traffic and turn. As soon as I realized that – that I could not stop or if I – I couldn't stop, I would've hit the vehicle, I put on my – applied my brakes and swerved to the right and missed that vehicle, came in contact with what seemed to be a ten-foot-tall brick mailbox, you know, in my mind; a very large brick mailbox. And then after that, it's all a blur.

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Johnson further testified as follows: he was traveling at a speed of approximately 55-60 mph in a 55 mph speed zone; he swerved to avoid rear-ending the turning vehicle; he believed he was in control of his vehicle before he encountered the mailbox; he hit the mailbox, which "sent [him] careening" back onto the roadway; hitting the mailbox caused him to lose control of his vehicle; and he did not recall the collision with the plaintiffs’ vehicle.

During cross-examination, Johnson testified that he did not recall the specifics of the accident. Namely, he was unable to recollect the angle at which his vehicle left the roadway, which part of his vehicle struck the mailbox, or whether he attempted to avoid steering away from the mailbox. Johnson stated that he "assumed" that he was applying his brakes during the sequence of events leading up to the accident. Johnson further testified that he had traveled Highway 34 for many years, and he was aware of the many residences located along the highway. However, he stated that he had never taken any particular notice of the mailboxes on the side of the road. According to Johnson, he did not notice the brick mailbox until he swerved to avoid hitting the turning vehicle. During redirect examination, Johnson testified that he believed that the presence of the brick mailbox, which he described as a "considerable structure," was a substantial factor in his vehicle entering the oncoming lane of traffic and colliding with the plaintiffs’ vehicle.

Donna Lawrence, the driver of the red Pontiac (the left-turning vehicle), also testified during the trial. She stated as follows: she had activated her turn signal and was waiting for traffic to pass so she could execute a left turn from the highway into her driveway; she suddenly heard "squealing" tires; she looked into her rearview mirror and saw a "big black truck" approaching from behind her; the driver of the black truck went around her and hit her neighbors’ brick mailbox; she saw bricks "flying all up in the air"; and she watched as the truck swerved onto her neighbors’ property, reentered the roadway into oncoming traffic, and struck the plaintiffs’ van.

Kevin Cummings, another eyewitness to the automobile accident, testified as follows: he was traveling behind the plaintiffs’ minivan; he saw a car "stopped [i]n the southbound lane evidently trying to turn into a driveway and a black SUV was coming behind it"; he was accustomed to seeing drivers maneuver onto the shoulder of Highway 34 to avoid waiting behind left-turning vehicles; the driver of the black SUV was "going to cream the car in front of him. So he hit the shoulder of the road to go around him ... then hit a big brick mailbox"; after hitting the mailbox, the driver reentered the roadway "right across the lane of traffic and hit the van and flipped it"; he knew "something bad was going to happen when [Johnson] hit that mailbox [and] he just evidently lost it, lost control of it"; and Johnson crossed "the lane of traffic and hit [the] van" after he hit the mailbox.

During cross-examination, Cummings testified that he did not know how fast Johnson was driving, but he did not believe Johnson would have been able to stop in time to avoid hitting the red Pontiac. After Johnson struck the mailbox, it looked as if the mailbox "exploded" because "debris went everywhere."⁵

Troy Harper, one of the owners of the brick mailbox, testified. He testified he and his fathe...