Jensen v. Mountain States Tel. and Tel. Co., No. 16417

• Court: Utah Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: WILKINS; CROCKETT
• Citation: 611 P.2d 363
• Parties: David W. JENSEN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. MOUNTAIN STATES TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, a corporation, and Jose F. Gonzales, Defendants and Respondents.
• Decision Date: 15 April 1980
• Docket Number: No. 16417

Page 363

611 P.2d 363 David W. JENSEN, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
MOUNTAIN STATES TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, a
corporation, and Jose F. Gonzales, Defendants and
Respondents. No. 16417. Supreme Court of Utah. April 15, 1980.

Page 364

Richard C. Dibblee and James R. Soper of Roberts, Black & Dibblee, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and appellant.

Gordon L. Roberts and Thomas T. Billings of Parsons, Behle & Latimer, Don J. Hanson, Salt Lake City, Morris D. Young, Tooele, for defendants and respondents.

WILKINS, Justice:

This is an appeal from the entry of a summary judgment in favor of Defendant Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company (hereafter "Mountain Bell") and against Plaintiff David W. Jensen (hereafter "Plaintiff"). The issue presented is whether the District Court of Salt Lake County correctly ruled as a matter of law that Mountain Bell was not the proximate cause of injuries sustained by plaintiff.

On the morning of September 8, 1977, Mountain Bell began service work on underground telephone lines located at the intersection of State Road 111 which runs north-south and State Road 171 which runs east-west in Salt Lake County. In connection with this work, Mountain Bell parked one of its service vehicles (hereafter "van") in the intersection, which was positioned in a north-south direction. The van was approximately 18 feet long by 8 feet wide. At this intersection, State Road 111 consists of five lanes, two lanes running north and two running south with a middle lane for left-hand turns. The vehicle was marked off with traffic cones in all four directions. Additionally, "Men Working" signs were placed in the north and south directions at distances of approximately 500 feet and again in front and in back of the van. The van had its four-way flashers on, its headlights on, and had two strobe lights flashing.

At approximately 2:00 p. m. the same day, plaintiff was traveling north on State Road 111 on his motorcycle. At the intersection in question, plaintiff collided with an automobile being driven by Defendant Jose Gonzales (hereafter "Gonzales") who is not a party to this appeal. At the time of the collision, Gonzales was executing a left turn from State Road 111 onto State Road 171 heading east. Plaintiff was severely injured and has no recollection of the collision whatsoever.

Plaintiff brought suit against Mountain Bell and Gonzales alleging that each was negligent and the negligence of each was a proximate cause of his injuries. For purposes of this appeal only, Mountain Bell has conceded that it was negligent. In its motion for summary judgment and again on appeal, Mountain Bell argues that it is not liable for plaintiff's injuries because it was not, and could not be, the proximate cause of those injuries. Specifically Mountain Bell maintains that even if it were negligent, the subsequent negligence of Gonzales constituted an independent intervening cause which cut off the negligence of Mountain Bell and made the negligence of

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Gonzales the sole proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries.

Summary judgment is proper only if the evidence, depositions, affidavits and admissions, when viewed in the light most favorable to the losing party, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. ¹

Based on the case of Hillyard v. Utah By-Products Co., ² Mountain Bell maintains that since Gonzales observed the parked van, his act of turning left into the oncoming path of plaintiff was a later intervening act which served to "interrupt the natural sequence of events and cut off the legal effect of the negligence" of Mountain Bell. ³ The District Court agreed and granted summary judgment. We believe that the rules laid down in Hillyard and its progeny and the facts as they appear in this case dictate that summary judgment was inappropriate and that the matter should be remanded for trial on the merits.

We...