Thomason v. Wayne County

• Decision Date: 03 October 1980
• Citation: Thomason v. Wayne County, 611 S.W.2d 585 (Tenn. App. 1980)
• Parties: Douglas W. THOMASON, Administrator of the Estate of Douglas W. Thomason, Jr. v. WAYNE COUNTY, Tennessee and Clifford Hancock, County Road Superintendent, and Clifford Hancock, Individually.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

Page 585

611 S.W.2d 585

Douglas W. THOMASON, Administrator of the Estate of Douglas W. Thomason, Jr. v. WAYNE COUNTY, Tennessee and Clifford Hancock, County Road Superintendent, and Clifford Hancock, Individually.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section, at Nashville.

Oct. 3, 1980 Certiorari Denied by Supreme Court Feb. 2, 1981.

Tom W. Moore, Jr., Cain & Moore, Columbia, for plaintiff-appellant.

George G. Gray, Charles Jeffrey Barnett, Waynesboro, for defendants-appellees.

OPINION

BEN H. CANTRELL, Special Judge.

In this death action involving a question of the liability of Wayne County based on negligence, nuisance and strict liability, the Trial Court held the County guilty of ordinary negligence but dismissed the action because of the contributory negligence of the decedent.

The decedent, Douglas W. Thomason, Jr., was killed in an accident on March 30, 1977 on Iron City Road, a crooked two-lane paved highway maintained by the Wayne County Highway Department. At the place of the accident the highway curves to the right on the side of a hill passing above a steep bank where the hill falls off to the left. A guard rail had been placed along the left side of the road to protect against automobiles leaving the road and falling down the embankment. The rail starts just about where the road begins to curve to the right and continues until the road crosses over the deepest part of the fill. Originally the guard rail was constructed out of thin steel plate that had been shaped into a modified "W" section approximately ten inches high. These sections were flanged at the ends and bolted to the posts to form a continuous ribbon of guard rail mounted on steel "H" beams set in concrete. As constructed the rail's purpose was to sustain an impact from an automobile, deflect from four to eight feet without yielding and direct the automobile around the curve keeping it from leaving the roadway and falling down the embankment.

Sometime prior to the date of the accident in question other accidents had occurred at this location and a large portion of the "W" section had been damaged. The Wayne County Highway Department removed the damaged "W" section from about the center of the rail where the bank was the deepest to the far end and replaced it with steel angle iron tack welded to the tops of the posts. Where the individual angle iron pieces met they were lapped a few inches and spot welded together. So on the date of the fatal accident the first part of approximately two hundred feet of the guard rail was constructed of "W" section and the balance was angle iron welded to the top of the posts.

On March 30, 1977 Douglas W. Thomason, Jr., and Patricia Ann Regan were traveling in an easterly direction on Iron City Road at approximately 10:00 p. m. They had been to a place called "Johnny's" to visit with some of Mr. Thomason's friends who played in the band there. While visiting with the friends they each had a drink of Bourbon mixed with orange juice. After the accident the partially filled bottle of Bourbon and some empty beer cans were found in the car.

After leaving the tavern Mr. Thomason and Miss Regan started back along the route on the Iron City Highway from which they had come. At the site of the fatal crash Mr. Thomason somehow lost control of the car and skidded 225 feet before hitting the guard rail at a point where the original "W" sections still existed. Apparently the rail took the impact but deflected and turned the car so that it then slid along the rail to the point where the angle iron had replaced the "W" section. At that point the "W" section had been knocked backwards so that the end of the angle iron was exposed and the car hit it head on. As the car continued its forward progress the angle iron pierced the front of the car, passed through the fire wall and into the driver. The car then traveled down the embankment and came to rest 461 feet from where it started skidding. The driver, Mr. Thomason, sustained grievous injuries and died before reaching the hospital from a laceration of the femoral artery.

From these facts the Trial Judge found that Wayne County was negligent in maintaining the guard rail in such a condition but that the proximate cause of death was the deceased's own negligence.

On this appeal the appellant contends that the negligence of the deceased does not bar this action because: (1) the County is guilty of gross negligence, or (2) the guard rail maintained as it was constituted a nuisance, or (3) the County is liable on the basis of strict liability.

We are unable to agree with the contentions of the appellant and therefore affirm the Trial Court.

First, we are unable to conclude that the County through its Road Superintendent was guilty of gross negligence because of the way in which the guard rail was repaired. Gross negligence indicates a conscious neglect of duty or a callous indifference to consequences. Tipton Co. v. Board of Education v. Dennis, 561 S.W.2d 148 (Tenn.1978). In Stagner v. Craig, 159 Tenn. 511, 19 S.W.2d 234 (1928), gross negligence was defined as "such entire want of care as would raise a presumption of a conscious indifference to consequences."

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