Kitchen v. CSX Transp., Inc., S94Q1242

• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
• Writing for the Court: THOMPSON; All the Justices concur, except BENHAM, P.J., and CARLEY; SEARS
• Citation: 265 Ga. 206,453 S.E.2d 712
• Parties: KITCHEN et al. v. CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. et al.
• Docket Number: No. S94Q1242,S94Q1242
• Decision Date: 27 February 1995

Page 712

453 S.E.2d 712 265 Ga. 206 KITCHEN et al.
v.
CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. et al. No. S94Q1242. Supreme Court of Georgia. Feb. 27, 1995.
Reconsideration Denied March 20, 1995.

Page 713

[265 Ga. 210] William T. Gerard, Gerard & Matthews, Athens, Billy E. Moore, Atlanta, for Kitchen.

Jack H. Senterfitt, Linda G. Carpenter, Robin Goff [265 Ga. 211] Mayer, Alston & Bird, Atlanta, for CSX Transp., Inc.

[265 Ga. 206] THOMPSON, Justice.

This case is before the Court on a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The facts and procedural history, as established in the opinion of the Eleventh Circuit, ¹ are summarized as follows: The incident giving rise to this litigation occurred while John David Kitchen was operating his motor vehicle on Elbert County Road 77. ² That portion of County Road 77 had at one time included a timber bridge, which crossed above railroad tracks owned by Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, now CSX Transportation, Inc. ("CSXT"). ³ By 1979, the bridge had deteriorated, and the county decided that the portion of County Road 77 where the [265 Ga. 207] bridge was situated was no longer necessary to through traffic. Consequently, Elbert County entered into an agreement with the railroad, whereby CSXT would remove the bridge, and the County would furnish barricades on either side of County Road 77 where the road terminated. The barricades constructed by the county consisted of piles of rock and dirt.

In May 1988, Kitchen drove his truck over a barricade and into the chasm formerly spanned by the bridge. The vehicle fell some twenty-six feet onto the railroad tracks below, where it was later struck by a train. Kitchen was found dead at the scene. Kitchen's parents, individually and as representatives of his estate (appellants herein), brought this negligence action against CSXT and Elbert County. ⁴ The district court granted CSXT's motion for summary judgment on the finding that CSXT "had no duty to erect or maintain any barriers at the ends of County Road No. 77."

Page 714

Concluding that resolution of the case involves questions of Georgia law which are dispositive but unanswered by precedent of this Court, the Eleventh Circuit certified the following questions:

1. Under the set of facts described above, did CSX Transportation, Inc. owe a duty to John David Kitchen?

2. If a duty was owed, what was the nature of the duty?

We answer the first question, which is dispositive, in the negative.

1. In 1973, the Georgia Code of Public Transportation ("GCPT"), OCGA § 32-1-1 et seq., Ga.L.1973, p. 947, § 1, was enacted "to revise, classify, consolidate and repeal ... other laws relating to all public roads [and] bridges, ... and to establish new laws relating thereto...." Ga.L.1973, p. 947. The purpose and legislative intent of the GCPT is further set out in OCGA § 32-1-2, as follows: "to provide a code of statutes for the public roads and other transportation facilities of the state, the counties, and municipalities of Georgia. The legislative intent is to provide an effective legal basis for the organization, administration, and operation of an efficient, modern system of public roads and other modes of transportation."

Prior to the enactment of the GCPT, former Ga.Code Ann. § 94-503, placed an absolute duty on railroads to maintain in good order all [265 Ga. 208] public roads and embankments over railroad tracks. See Southern Railway Co. v. Brooks, 112 Ga.App. 324(1), 145 S.E.2d 76 (1965). ⁵ The GCPT redelegated these obligations to local and state government. OCGA § 32-6-197(b) provides:

It shall be the duty of the county or the municipality to maintain at its own expense the drainage, surface, pavement, approaches, and guardrails of all overpasses involving railroads on its respective public road system. It shall be the duty of the railroad involved to maintain at its own expense any floors constructed of wood and the foundations, piers, abutments, and superstructures of all overpasses on the county or municipal public road system.

Thus, under the GCPT, the statutory duty to maintain the public road and any warning devices thereon leading to the former site of the timber bridge was exclusively that of the county, both at the time the bridge was removed and at the time of the decedent's injury. ⁶

2. Appellants contend, and the Eleventh Circuit questions whether, there remains a common law duty independent of the GCPT, requiring CSXT to guard the safety of those who may be injured by an inherently dangerous condition and nuisance...