Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority v. Reading

• Decision Date: 01 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 954,954
• Citation: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority v. Reading, 674 A.2d 44, 109 Md.App. 89 (Md. App. 1995)
• Parties: WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY v. Natalie Noel READING, a Minor, etc., et al. ,
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 89

109 Md.App. 89

674 A.2d 44

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY v. Natalie Noel READING, a Minor, etc., et al.

No. 954, September Term, 1995.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

March 29, 1996.

Don C.A. Parker, Assistant General Counsel (Robert L. Polk, General Counsel and Robert J. Kniaz, Deputy General Counsel, on the brief), Washington, DC, for appellant.

Timothy F. Maloney (Camus & Maloney, on the brief), Riverdale, for appellees.

Argued before WENNER, FISCHER and HOLLANDER, JJ.

HOLLANDER, Judge.

This appeal arises from a negligence suit instituted in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County by Natalie Noel Reading, appellee, against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA"), appellant. Appellee, who is mentally disabled, sought to recover for injuries sustained when she exited a WMATA bus and was struck by a motor vehicle operated by Denise Doyle. ¹

In August 1993, the case proceeded to trial on the issue of liability only. After the presentation of all the evidence, the trial court granted Ms. Doyle's motion for judgment with respect to WMATA's cross-claim, but denied WMATA's motion for judgment. Thereafter, the jury returned a verdict finding that WMATA was negligent and that appellee was not contributorily negligent.

On December 15, 1993, the parties agreed to a damage award in the amount of $175,000, subject to appellant's right to appeal the judgment regarding liability and to file a motion for remittitur on legal grounds. On May 25, 1995, the court denied appellant's motion for remittitur. Appellant now presents several issues for our review:

1. Did the trial court err in failing to grant WMATA's motion for judgment on the following grounds:

a. As a matter of law, WMATA's duty to Ms. Reading ended when she safely exited the bus onto the curb.

b. As a matter of law, WMATA's actions through its bus operator were not a proximate cause of Ms. Reading's injuries c. As a matter of law, Ms. Reading was contributorily negligent.

2. Did the trial court err in allowing Ms. Reading's mother, a lay witness, to testify that Ms. Reading functioned at a third grade level?

3. Did the trial court err in instructing the jury that, in considering whether Ms. Reading was contributorily negligent, the applicable standard of care is that of a reasonable person with a similar mental disability faced with similar circumstances?

4. Did the trial court err in failing to grant WMATA's post trial [sic] motion for remittitur on the grounds that Section 80 of the WMATA Compact limits WMATA's liability to an amount no greater than that recoverable under Maryland law against an instrumentality of the State of Maryland?

For the reasons discussed below, we shall reverse, because we agree with appellant that, as a matter of law, WMATA was not negligent. Accordingly, we decline to address the remaining issues.

Factual Summary ²

At the time of the accident on January 13, 1988, Ms. Reading was twenty-five years old. Appellee's mother, whose name is also Natalie Reading, testified that, as a result of a traumatic birth, appellee suffers from "minimal brain damage," walks with an abnormal gait, and functions "at a third grade level." Appellee's mother also explained that routine is very important to appellee and she becomes "upset" when it is disrupted. According to appellee's mother, most people who meet appellee would not initially notice her mental disability. In this regard, she testified:

Well, she could not function as say the normal 16, 20, 25 year old person, because after you see [her] for a while or even talk with her and so forth, a lot of people wouldn't realize there is a problem right away, but if you talk with her or are around her a while then you know that there is special problems.

* * * * * *

There is some things she can cope with and some things she doesn't.

(Italics added).

Appellee received special education at various facilities from the age of six until the age of twenty-one. At the Duckworth School, appellee received lessons in reading, writing, using money, and making purchases. Additionally, in 1979, Duckworth obtained employment for her as a day care aide at Childway Daycare Center ("Childway"). Because of her disability, appellee qualified for a WMATA handicapped photographic identification card ("I.D."), which lists her name and social security number, and entitles her to half price bus fare.

Prior to her placement, Duckworth instructors taught appellee how to ride public buses in order to travel to and from Childway. Appellee learned to display her special I.D. card when boarding the bus, to pay the fare, and to sit in the front of the bus. Additionally, appellee was instructed always to walk in front of the bus, to look both ways before crossing, and to obey cross walk signals after exiting the bus. Appellee's mother confirmed that her daughter knew "how to interpret" crosswalk signs, to recognize crosswalks, and to watch for traffic. WMATA did not participate in appellee's training.

Appellee's mother testified that, on the day of the accident, her daughter was "definitely" able to travel by herself on the bus. Indeed, by the early 1980's, with her parent's consent, Ms. Reading began riding WMATA buses to and from Childway, without supervision. Since the start of appellee's job placement, she routinely traveled on two buses. First, at the corner of Dartmouth Avenue and Calvert Road, appellee took WMATA's number 86 bus, which traveled southbound on U.S. Route One, a four lane road with a turn lane in the middle. She ordinarily exited the bus at a designated stop located at the College Park Shopping Center, approximately one block south of Knox Road. From the bus stop, appellee would walk north along Route One to the intersection of Knox Road, which was governed by a traffic light. Then, in order to reach Childway, she would cross Route One to transfer to WMATA's number 82 bus, which travels northbound.

On January 13, 1988, Richard Underwood, a WMATA employee, drove WMATA's number 86 bus, in place of the regular bus driver. At trial, Underwood testified that Ms. Reading boarded the bus at the corner of Dartmouth Avenue and Calvert Road, showed him her handicapped I.D., paid the reduced fare, and took a seat in the front of the bus. As part of his employee training, Underwood stated that he had received instruction in ensuring that handicapped passengers "get on safely and alight safely and watching out for their welfare." He also noticed that Ms. Reading walked in an unusual manner, with a leg that dragged a little bit, but he assumed only that she was physically disabled; he was unaware of any mental disabilities.

Underwood further explained that, after appellee boarded the bus, he drove southbound on Route One, in the direction of Knox Road. He also testified that, as the bus approached the intersection of Route One and Knox Road, he saw the 82 bus across the street, traveling in the northbound direction, and heard appellee remark, "my bus, my bus." For that reason, Underwood stated that, with his headlights, he signaled the number 82 bus to wait and he stopped his bus just prior to the intersection of Route One and Knox Road, in the curb lane of southbound traffic, to allow appellee to exit. This was not a regular bus stop, however.

Nevertheless, according to Underwood, he pulled the bus over at an angle and "put the last step o[f] the bus in the doorway right over the curb," along the sidewalk. Underwood also testified that the place he stopped had a "normal sidewalk" and was physically indistinguishable from a regular WMATA bus stop, aside from the absence of a bus stop sign or a rain shelter. He added that WMATA policy directs bus drivers generally to use bus stops, but that bus operators may pick up or discharge passengers at an unmarked location if done safely. Underwood also said that Ms. Reading would have missed the number 82 bus if he had stopped at the usual bus stop; he explained that, "[i]f I had brought her up to the next bus stop, ... she would have had two blocks to walk back ... [and] the other driver would have said, it's too long, I got to go." Moreover, if Ms. Reading had missed the other bus, Underwood said she would have had to wait fifteen to twenty minutes for the next bus to arrive.

Additionally, Underwood testified that "before [appellee] even got [to] the door, ... I said I'll put you off right over here at this corner. Walk behind the bus. I already signaled him. He knows you are coming...." Underwood stated that after Ms. Reading exited the bus, she began to cross the street. As the traffic light in his direction was green, he shouted, "no." He also honked at Ms. Reading, who was on Route One directly in front of the bus. Thereafter, appellee was struck by Ms. Doyle's car.

Christine Hanson, a passenger on the number 86 bus, also testified. She stated that, before the bus reached the intersection of Knox Road and Route One, she heard appellee "shou[t] that she wanted to catch the bus that was coming down the other side of the street.... [and] said something like oh, oh, there goes the 82." Ms. Hanson further said that, immediately thereafter, appellee "jumped out of her seat and ran for the door, and the bus driver opened the door and let her out, and then she ran in front of the bus into the traffic" traveling southbound on Route One. She did not remember whether Underwood gave appellee any instructions when appellee exited the bus.

Ms. Reading also testified in her own behalf. ³ She stated that she was very good at looking both ways and reading traffic signs when she crossed streets on her way to work. She further stated that, before the accident occurred, she never experienced problems travelling by bus. Appellee recounted that, on the date of the accident, she boarded the number 86 bus at her regular bus stop and sat behind the driver. She did not remember seeing the 82 bus coming in the other...