| (360) 683-6276 | Fax: (360) 683-6719 |
INDEX
March 1, 1998New York State Found Liable for Motorist's Death in Rock Slide on State Thruway
March 1, 1998
March 1, 1998
March 1, 1998
A death and an injury resulted from a rock slide on a New York highway. The injured
driver and the husband of the deceased passenger sued the State of New York (State).
The Court of Claims entered a judgment for the plaintiffs, finding that the State's
bolting-and-strapping project to prevent rocks from falling on the roadway "lacked a
reasonable basis." Moreover, the court found the project was "without adequate study."
The State appealed. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department held
that the State of New York was liable for the rock slide.
Court Upholds Georgia Driver's Reckless Conduct Conviction for Injury to County Road
Worker
County employees were working in a ditch beside Black Shoals Road, a gravel road
maintained by the county and crossing Mr. Cowan's private land. Cowan drove on the
wrong side of the road beside the ditch--shouting at the county employees. He passed
so close that his truck's side mirror struck a county employee, seriously injuring the
worker's arm. The trial jury in the State Court, Rockdale County, Georgia convicted
Cowan of reckless conduct. The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the trial court's
decision, maintaining that the driver's conduct disregarded the risk that his act would
cause harm and deviated from the behavior of a reasonable person in such a situation.
Contributory Negligence of Driver and Parish in Louisiana Intersection Crash Affirmed
A driver, his wife, and another passenger sued the State of Louisiana (State) and East
Baton Rouge Parish (Parish) for injuries received in a crash at the intersection of a
Parish road and a State highway. The 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton
Rouge dismissed the claim against the State and assigned fault to the driver and the
Parish. The Parish was found negligent because it had constructive notice that foliage
blocked the sign and had failed to clear the obstruction. Moreover, the Parish had
failed to post a stop-ahead sign for the intersection. Both the Parish and the plaintiffs
appealed. The Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit's findings supported the
contributory negligence of the driver and the Parish and confirmed that the State had
no duty to maintain Parish warning signs.
Trucker Survey Highlights Causes of Drowsy Driving and Suggests Preventive
Measures
Research has shown that fatigue is not only "common" but also an "important crash
factor" in crashes involving heavy trucks. "Drowsy driving" among long-distance truck
drivers is believed to be "underreported as a crash factor." A recent study surveyed
long-distance truck drivers to "gather in-depth information on work and rest patterns
and experiences with sleepiness-related driving." The results of the study were
documented by Anne T. McCartt, Mark C. Hammer, and Sandra Z. Fuller in their article
"Work and Sleep/Rest Factors Associated with Driving While Drowsy: Experiences
Among Long-Distance Truck Drivers," The Association for the Advancement of
Automotive Medicine published the report in their 41st Annual Proceedings, Orlando,
FL, November 10-11, 1997. Results "confirm[ed] that driving while drowsy is a
common experience for [truck] drivers."
negligence, appeals, highway, traffic, expert.
Edge drop, accident, collision, crash, edgedropoff, road construction, signs, signals, traffic control devices.
Accident Investigation, Expert Witness, Injury Litigation, Liability, Court, Roy Anderson, Transportation, National, Travel, law, legal, federal highways, road construction.