Hansen v. State, 94-165
| Decision Date | 29 March 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-165,94-165 |
| Citation | 528 N.W.2d 547 |
| Parties | Duane S. HANSEN, Administrator of the Estate of Laura L. Hansen, Deceased; Duane S. Hansen; Jeffrey J. Hansen, and Julie A. Hansen, Appellants, v. STATE of Iowa and Town of Arnolds Park, Iowa, Appellees. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
David J. Grace of Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen, P.C., Des Moines, and David A. Scott of Cornwall, Avery, Bjornstad & Scott, Spencer, for appellants.
Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., and Robin G. Formaker and Richard E. Mull, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee State of Iowa.
Lee H. Gaudineer of Austin, Gaudineer, Austin, Salmons & Swanson, Des Moines, and Harold W. White of Fitzgibbons Brothers, Estherville, for appellee Town of Arnolds Park.
Considered by HARRIS, LARSON, CARTER, LAVORATO, and SNELL, JJ.
The trial court held that governmental entities are not liable for their negligence so long as they comply with established state policy. Because compliance with the policy was established, summary judgments were entered in this wrongful death suit. We affirm.
Laura L. Hansen, plaintiffs' decedent, 1 was killed as a result of an accident on U.S. highway 71 within the town of Arnolds Park. The accident occurred at 9:25 a.m. December 28, 1989, at a time, plaintiffs allege, the highway was icy. The highway at this point is considered a municipal extension of a primary road, and is under concurrent state and city jurisdiction pursuant to Iowa Code section 306.4(3) (1995). In accordance with this statute, the town and State contracted for removal of ice and snow from roadways.
The State had a policy for removal of existing ice and snow which provided as follows:
I. Treat heavy frost on roadways and freezing rain within 4 hours after the Department has actual notice of the condition....
II. Treat or plow isolated frost, ice, and snow on pavement surfaces within 12 hours after the Department has actual notice of the condition.
The record is clear that by the time of the accident the State, according to Iowa Code section 668.10(2), 2 still had fifty minutes during which to treat the roadways. This is because the four-hour time limit set out by the policy had not yet expired.
In this suit for Laura Hansen's death, both the State and Arnolds Park moved for summary judgment on the claim they had complied with policy provisions regarding removal of snow and ice, and this was sufficient to immunize them from liability. The trial court sustained both motions and the matter is before us on appeal from those rulings.
I. Pursuant to Iowa rule of appellate procedure 4 we review the granting of summary judgment for errors of law. In doing so we determine whether: (1) a genuine issue of material fact exists; and (2) the law was correctly applied. Ottumwa Hous. Auth. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 495 N.W.2d 723, 726 (Iowa 1993). We review the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Downs v. A & H Constr. Ltd., 481 N.W.2d 520, 522 (Iowa 1992). Summary judgment is proper if, "under the entire record, the only conflict concerns the legal consequences flowing from undisputed facts." Hernandez v. Farmers Ins. Co., 460 N.W.2d 842, 843 (Iowa 1990) (citing Brown v. Monticello State Bank, 360 N.W.2d 81, 84 (Iowa 1984)). See also Iowa R.Civ.P. 237(c).
II. In granting the State's motion for summary judgment, the trial court observed:
Even if the highway in question was not treated as claimed by the defendant State of Iowa, the Iowa department of transportation's policy regarding snow and ice removal operations provided fifty additional minutes after the collision occurred to treat the icy condition of the highway in question. It is clear that the defendant State of Iowa had a policy for the removal of accumulations of snow or ice on a highway pursuant to the provisions of section 668.10(2) of the Iowa Code and was in compliance therewith, thereby bestowing immunity upon the defendant State of Iowa from the claims of the plaintiffs.
The Hansens, citing Restatement (Second) of Torts section 324A, 3 argue that, even if the State did undertake to treat the highway pursuant to its policy, it did so gratuitously and should have recognized it was doing so to benefit third persons.
We visited the statutory immunity granted by companion Code section 668.10(1) () in Phillips v. City of Waukee, 467 N.W.2d 218 (Iowa 1991), pointing out that "[a]ny possible liability for the [governmental entities] ... has been severely restricted by statute." Id. at 219. We earlier visited section 668.10(1) in Foster v. City of Council Bluffs, 456 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 1990), noting it "can only be viewed as a continuation of a discernible current trend to make individual citizens bear the sole burden of the negligence of state employees." Id. at 2.
We think the broad scope of the immunities granted by section 668.10(1) and section 668.10(2) are the same. The language in subsection two is straightforward. If procedures adopted for snow and ice removal are followed, the governmental entity is exempt from tort liability regarding those practices. The State did comply with its policy and is immune as a matter of law. The trial court was correct in so holding.
III. The Hansens argue that Arnolds Park cannot claim immunity because it did not, at least as contemplated by section 668.10(2), have in effect a "policy" for the removal of ice and snow. As mentioned, the highway at the point was under joint jurisdiction of the state and the town. 4 The State and Arnolds Park entered into an agreement that provided the Iowa department of transportation would be responsible for maintenance of highway 71
through the city of Arnolds Park, Iowa, from the face of the curb to the face of the curb. The State of Iowa, under agreement, is responsible to remove natural or unnatural accumulations of snow or ice, or to place sand, salt, or other abrasive material on U.S. Highway 71 as it passes through the City of Arnolds Park, Iowa, in accordance...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hanson v. Hancock County Memorial Hosp.
... ... 1432 ... B. Disposition Of State-Law Claims ... 1433 ... 1. Absence of a federal claim ... denied sub nom. Ezzone v. Hansen, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1958, 131 L.Ed.2d 850 (1995); McCray v. Carstensen, 492 N.W.2d 444, 445 ... ...
-
Reedy v. White Consol. Industries, Inc.
... ... Plaintiff has moved for a ruling in advance of trial on the admissibility of findings in the state" administrative procedures pertaining to his claim for workers compensation benefits ... \xC2" ... ...
-
Wulf v. Senst
...snow removal, so that they are safe for travelers using them while exercising reasonable and ordinary care and prudence); Hansen v. State, 528 N.W.2d 547 (Iowa, 1995) (the state and municipalities are immune from tort liability for failure to remove snow and ice as long as they have complie......
-
Cubit v. Mahaska County
...(refusing to read immunity bestowed by section 670.4(12) narrowly in view of "the broad language of [that] section"); Hansen v. State, 528 N.W.2d 547, 549 (Iowa 1995) (referring to "the broad scope of the immunities granted by section 668.10(1) and section 668.10(2)," relating to state and ......