Indiana Limestone Co. v. Staggs
| Decision Date | 21 November 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 47A05-9406-CV-250,47A05-9406-CV-250 |
| Citation | 672 N.E.2d 1377 |
| Parties | INDIANA LIMESTONE COMPANY, Appellant-Defendant, v. John STAGGS, Administrator of the Estate of Shelley D. Staggs, Deceased, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Indiana Limestone Company ("Indiana Limestone") brings an interlocutory appeal from the trial court's denial of its motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death action brought by John Staggs ("Staggs"), as administrator of the estate of Shelly D. Staggs ("decedent"). The sole issue is whether the trial court properly denied Indiana Limestone's motion for summary judgment.
We reverse in part and affirm in part.
The parties raise two issues, which we restate as:
1. Whether the owner of a water-filled limestone quarry located 25 feet from a sharply curving two lane road owes a duty of care to a driver who drowns after her car leaves the road and enters the quarry.
2. Whether a quarry so located is a public nuisance due to the risk of harm it poses to travelers on the adjacent road.
The facts most favorable to Staggs, the nonmoving party, are as follows. On the morning of February 23, 1992, the decedent drove her car south on Rockport Road. The road is on a downhill grade and it curves sharply to the left around the University Quarry, which is owned by Indiana Limestone. On that date, there were icy spots in both lanes of Rockport Road near the quarry. At this point, the decedent lost control of her car and veered towards the inside of the curve. Her car crossed the center line of the road and traveled forty-two feet on the opposing lane. The decedent's car then left the roadway and traveled another 156 feet across brush and other foliage before striking an embankment at the corner of the quarry. Thereafter, her car fell thirty feet into the quarry and submerged twenty-five feet under water. The decedent's car was wedged between rocks at the bottom of the quarry rendering a rescue attempt impossible.
Prior to February 23, 1993, there were no accidents involving University Quarry, and the last accident involving any quarry in this area was over fifteen years ago. The northbound lane of South Rockport Road is twenty-four feet and three inches away from the ledge where the decedent's car fell into the quarry.
On March 1, 1993, Staggs filed a complaint for wrongful death against Indiana Limestone. Staggs alleged Indiana Limestone was liable for decedent's death because Indiana Limestone was negligent in maintaining its property. Staggs also alleged that University Quarry was a nuisance. In its answer, Indiana Limestone denied both of Staggs's claims.
On August 3, 1993, Indiana Limestone filed a motion for summary judgment. Indiana Limestone argued it was not negligent in maintaining its property because it did not owe the decedent a legal duty. Further, Indiana Limestone argued that Staggs could not recover under a nuisance theory. On May 5, 1994, the trial court denied summary judgment.
When we review a trial court's entry of summary judgment, we are bound by the same standard as the trial court. Ayres v. Indian Heights Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc., 493 N.E.2d 1229, 1234 (Ind.1986). We may consider only those portions of the pleadings depositions, answers of interrogatories, admissions, matters of judicial notice, and any other matters designated to the trial court by the moving party for purposes of the motion for summary judgment. Rosi v. Business Furniture Corp., 615 N.E.2d 431, 434 (Ind.1993); Ind. Trial Rule 56(C), (H). Any doubt as to the existence of an issue of material fact, or an inference to be drawn from the facts, must be resolved in favor of the nonmoving party. Cowe v. Forum Group, Inc., 575 N.E.2d 630, 633 (Ind.1991). "A genuine issue of material fact exists where facts concerning an issue which would dispose of the litigation are in dispute or where the undisputed facts are capable of supporting conflicting inferences on such an issue." Scott v. Bodor, Inc., 571 N.E.2d 313, 318 (Ind.Ct.App.1991).
Indiana Limestone contends that the trial court's denial of summary judgment was improper because there are no genuine issues of material fact. In his complaint, Staggs set forth his claims against Indiana Limestone as follows:
4. That the defendant, Indiana Limestone Company, was negligent with regard to its maintenance of its property and such negligence was a proximate cause of the accident and the death of Shelly D. Staggs and the resultant damages.
5. That the defendant Indiana Limestone Company's unprotected water-filled abandoned quarry hole located immediately next to a winding road constitutes a nuisance and was a proximate cause of the accident and the death of Shelly D. Staggs and the resultant damages.
(R. 5). Indiana Limestone argues it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on both of Staggs's claims.
First, Indiana Limestone argues that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Staggs's negligence claim because Indiana Limestone did not owe the decedent a legal duty. We disagree.
At the outset, we recognize that summary judgment is generally inappropriate for negligence cases. Barsz v. Max Shapiro, Inc., 600 N.E.2d 151, 152 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). Issues of negligence, contributory negligence, causation, and reasonable care are more appropriately left for the determination by a trier of fact. Houin v. Burger, 590 N.E.2d 593, 596 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). Whether a duty of care exists, however, is a question of law to be decided by the trial court. Id.
For Indiana Limestone to prevail on appeal, it must demonstrate that no factual dispute exists with respect to at least one element of negligence and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See T.R. 56(C). The elements of negligence are: (1) a duty on the part of the defendant to conform his conduct to a standard of care arising from his relationship with the plaintiff; (2) a failure of the defendant to conform his conduct to that standard; and (3) an injury proximately caused by the breach of duty. Mullin v. Municipal City of South Bend, 639 N.E.2d 278, 283 (Ind.1994). Absent a duty owed to a plaintiff by the defendant, there can be no actionable negligence. Lewis v. City of Indianapolis, 554 N.E.2d 13, 16 (Ind.Ct.App.1990), trans. denied.
To succeed in his negligence claim, Staggs must demonstrate that Indiana Limestone owed the decedent a legal duty. Staggs does not contend that a statutory duty was owed, but asserts that a common law duty existed.
Indiana Limestone contends it did not owe the decedent a common law duty under the facts of this case. The Indiana Supreme Court has set forth three factors that must be analyzed and balanced when determining whether to impose a common law duty: (1) the relationship between the parties, (2) the reasonable foreseeability of harm to the person injured, and (3) public policy concerns. Webb v. Jarvis, 575 N.E.2d 992, 995 (Ind.1991), reh'g denied. We examine each of these factors in turn.
While the determination of whether a relationship gives rise to a duty is generally a matter for the court to decide, "factual questions may be interwoven with the determination of the existence of a relation, rendering the existence of a duty a mixed question of law and fact, ultimately to be resolved by the fact-finder." Harper v. Guarantee Auto Stores, 533 N.E.2d 1258, 1261-62 (Ind.Ct.App.1989), trans. denied.
The public right of passage in a road carries with it the obligation upon occupiers of adjacent land to use reasonable care not to endanger such passage by excavations or other hazards so close to the road as to make it unsafe to persons using the road with ordinary care. DeArk v. Nashville Stone Setting Corp., 38 Tenn.App. 678, 279 S.W.2d 518, 521 (1955), cert. denied. Our supreme court has long recognized a relationship between owners or occupiers of land adjacent to a highway and persons rightfully using the highway. See. e.g., City of Indianapolis v. Emmelman, 108 Ind. 530, 534, 9 N.E. 155, 157 (1886). There, the court stated:
Id. at 534-535, 9 N.E. at 157 (emphasis supplied). See also Tibbs v. Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc., 668 N.E.2d 248 (Ind.1996), where our supreme court noted that "risk imports relation; it is risk to another or to others within the range of apprehension ", quoting Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 248 N.Y. 339, 162 N.E. 99, 100 (1928) (emphasis supplied in Tibbs ). There, the court discussed its precedent case law recognizing the duty owed by one in possession of a premises to passersby to keep adjoining areas reasonably clear of risks. Id. at 250.
The Emmelman rule is in accord with the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 368 (1965), which states:
A possessor of land who creates or permits to remain thereon an excavation or other artificial condition so near an existing highway that he realizes or should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk to others accidentally brought into contact with such condition while traveling with reasonable care upon the highway, is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to persons who
(a) are traveling on the highway, or
(b) foreseeably deviate from it in the ordinary course...
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