Case Name: Betty Sue Sherrill MICHEL v. ASCENSION PARISH POLICE JURY
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1988-04-19
Citations: 524 So. 2d 1369
Docket Number: No. CA 87 0350
Parties: Betty Sue Sherrill MICHEL v. ASCENSION PARISH POLICE JURY.
Judges: Before SHORTESS, LANIER and CRAIN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 524
Pages: 1369–1375

Head Matter:
Betty Sue Sherrill MICHEL v. ASCENSION PARISH POLICE JURY.
No. CA 87 0350.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
April 19, 1988.
Gregory N. Bilyeu and Mac Trelles, Jr., Baton Rouge, for Betty Sue Michel, plaintiff/appellee.
Gordon Crawford, Gonzales, for Ascension Parish, Police Jury appellant.
John W. King, Baton Rouge, for State.
Before SHORTESS, LANIER and CRAIN, JJ.

Opinion:
CRAIN, Judge.
This is an appeal of a judgment awarding damages to a widow and children in a wrongful death action.
In 1977, Charles Michel died from drowning after he drove his pickup truck off a bridge. The bridge is located in Ascension Parish on Laurel Ridge Road, a dead-end road that intersects La. 935. The bridge was constructed over a drainage canal by the Ascension Parish Police Jury and is maintained by the police jury. In 1972 the police jury had the road asphalted, which prior to that time was just gravel and dirt, and reconstructed a portion of the bridge. The jury did not have railings placed on the bridge. Charles Michel's widow, Betty Sue Sherril Michel, brought suit on behalf of the estate of Charles Michel, herself and the minor children of the marriage against the police jury and the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development.
The trial court found that the state was not liable because Laurel Ridge Road is not part of the state highway system. However, the court found that the absence of railings on the bridge constituted a defect which presented an unreasonable risk of harm to motorists crossing it and that the police jury was strictly liable under La.C.C. art. 2317. Judgment was awarded in favor of the plaintiff and the children totaling $128,495. The issue on appeal is the correctness of that judgment.
The trial court found that the absence of railings on the bridge constituted a defect which presented an unreasonable risk of harm to motorists crossing it, and that the police jury is strictly liable under La.C.C. art. 2317.
The police jury alleges that the bridge on Laurel Ridge Road is not defective within the meaning of La.C.C. art. 2317 because of a lack of railings, and, applying negligence principles, recovery is barred because of decedent's contributory negligence.
LEGAL BASIS OF LIABILITY
We find that the defendant could be held strictly liable under La.C.C. art. 2317 or liable for negligence under La.C.C. art. 2315. The duty of the police jury in maintaining a highway in its control is the same as the duty of the state in maintaining a highway in the state highway system. The duty is to keep the highways in a reasonably safe condition. Whether the police jury has breached this duty, that is, whether the roadway and bridge at the scene of the accident were in an unreasonably dangerous condition, will depend on the particular facts and circumstances of each case. Myers v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 493 So.2d 1170 (La.1986).
Although the police jury is not an insurer of the safety of motorists using highways within its control, it cannot knowingly allow a condition to exist which is hazardous to a reasonably prudent motorist. Watson v. Morrison, 340 So.2d 588 (La.App. 1st Cir.1976), writ denied, 341 So.2d 1134 (La.1977). Liability based on negligence is imposed when the police jury is actually or constructively aware of a hazardous condition or defect and fails to take corrective action within a reasonable time. Efferson v. State, Through Department of Transportation & Development, 463 So.2d 1342 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984), writ denied, 465 So.2d 722 (La.1985). Liability based on La.C.C. art. 2317 requires only that a hazardous condition or defect exist regardless of knowledge. Kent v. Gulf States Utilities Co., 418 So.2d 493 (La.1982). Since the police jury constructed the bridge without railings, the liability analysis is the same under La.C.C. art. 2315 or La.C.C. art. 2317.
FACTUAL BASIS OF LIABILITY
Laurel Ridge Road intersects with La. 935 in Ascension Parish. The road is approximately a mile and a half in length and serves as the sole form of ingress and egress to the families that live there (approximately 12 to 15), some farmers that maintain farms in the area, and a radio tower located there. Although the area is remote, the road has considerable traffic. Like many rural roads, it is a narrow highway with small graveled shoulders. At the time of the accident, the bridge was a wooden frame construction with a layer of asphalt, fifty feet long, twenty-two feet wide, with no railings on the side. The canal that the bridge crosses is approximately thirty-five feet wide.
The date of construction of the bridge or the canal was not established, but in 1971 or 1972 the police jury had Laurel Ridge Road paved and reconstructed and widened the bridge.
Vegetation grows heavy along the edge of the road and canal and somewhat on the edge of the bridge. Due to the vegetation and the fact that the bridge lies in a slight curve, it is almost impossible to ascertain the location of the canal or the bridge. Residents of Laurel Ridge testified of the difficulty in locating the bridge, especially at night or during poor weather conditions.
Photographs taken during optimum conditions, introduced into evidence, establish that it is almost impossible to locate the bridge due to the foilage and the layout of the road. Testimony established that, prior to the accident, the police jury received complaints and requests for railings. The cost of the railings on this bridge was estimated at $1500-$2000. The cost of the railings is minimal compared to the cost involved in the reconstruction of Laurel Ridge Road in 1972.
Railings make a bridge much easier to locate and traverse, in addition to providing a safety barrier for an inadvertent motorist, much like a shoulder to a highway. Cf. LeBlanc v. State, 419 So.2d 853 (La.1982). All of the testimony established that the decedent's vehicle would not have gone off the bridge had railings been present. We find that the absence of railings on this particular bridge created an unreasonable risk of harm to motorists that the police jury had a duty to protect against.
We do not hold that the absence of railings from any bridge would render it defective or an unreasonable risk per se, nor do we preclude the possibility that other forms of warning might have relieved the police jury of liability for this particular bridge. Our decision is based solely on the peculiar facts of this particular case.
CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE OR VICTIM FAULT
Since all of the elements of strict liability and negligence have been proven by the plaintiff, the police jury can escape liability only by showing that the harm was caused by the fault of the victim, by fault of a third person, or by a fortuitous event. Loescher v. Parr, 324 So.2d 441 (La.1975).
The defendant alleges contributory negligence on the part' of the decedent. Contributory negligence must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it is never assumed. The burden of proving contributory negligence is on the party alleging it. Wooten v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 477 So.2d 1142 (La.App. 1st Cir.1985).
There were no witnesses to the accident. A neighbor testified that he crossed the bridge approximately fifteen minutes prior to the accident and some children were fishing from the edge of the bridge with their bicycles parked on the bridge in decedent's lane. He testified that he slowed the church bus and spoke to one of the children. On his return trip a few minutes later, he noticed the truck in the canal. The decedent was seen just prior to the accident and appeared normal. Both plaintiff's and defendants' experts testified that the decedent was traveling at a slow rate of speed when the left wheel of the truck left the bridge. The speed was estimated to be no greater than ten to fifteen miles per hour, and at the point of leaving the bridge the vehicle had lost all of its forward momentum. The evidence corroborates this in that the truck was parallel to the bridge, only four to five feet from the bridge, and had simply flipped over in the water, causing decedent to drown. With the exception of the fact that the decedent's truck ran off of the left side of the bridge, there is an absence of evidence showing negligence on the part of the decedent. However, there were no discernible lines delineating lanes on the bridge, and the roadway and bridge itself are so narrow that persons using the bridge normally would not pass an approaching car on it. This indicates that vehicles normally used the entire roadway when crossing the bridge.
The trial court found that the plaintiff was not negligent. We will not alter the trial court's findings of fact absent a showing of manifest error. Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978). We find no such error.
AMOUNT OF DAMAGES
The defendant alleges that the awards given the plaintiff were excessive. The plaintiff answers and requests an increase in damages.
The trial court recognized the decedent's earning potential and took cognizance of his spotty employment record, that the decedent and plaintiff had been living separate and apart for three months, and that decedent had provided plaintiff with no support whatsoever in this time period. As found by the trial court:
[The] Michels admittedly lived a turbulent marital life, which included acts of violence and threats. The separation mentioned above was the third between the parties, and a suit for separation was pending at the time of the accident. It is a fact that Mr. Michel had visited with Mrs. Michel on the day before his death and she testified that she intended to return to live with him; however, the Court cannot ignore the other factors to which reference has been made above.
When damages are insusceptible of precise measurement, much discretion is left to the court for the reasonable assessment of those damages. La.C.C. art. 1999. Where a legal right to recover exists, but the damages cannot be exactly estimated, the trial court has reasonable discretion to assess damages based on the facts and circumstances of the case. Before a reviewing court can disturb an award made by a trial court, the record must clearly reveal that the trier of fact abused its discretion. Harrigan v. Freeman, 498 So. 2d 58 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986).
The trial court awarded $10,000 for loss of support and $5,000 for loss of affection and mental anxiety to Mrs. Michel. After reviewing the record we find that this award falls within the minimum range to be awarded for this type action. Consequently, we will not disturb the the award.
The trial court awarded $20,000 per child for each of the minor children, Christopher, Hershell, Stacey and Charles Michel, Jr. for the loss of affection of their father and their pain and suffering as a result of his death. The evidence showed a normal parent-child relationship between the decedent and each of the children. The court also awarded loss of support to the children as follows:
Christopher Michel 5,000
Hershell Michel 6,900
Stacey Michel 7,500
Charles Michel, Jr. 10,000
We find that these awards fall within the minimum range allowable. Consequently, we will not disturb the award.
The trial court also awarded damages for the funeral and wrecker expenses in removing the truck in the amounts of $1325 and $85, respectively. These expenses were not questioned by the defendant. We find no error in the award of these damages by the trial court.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in its entirety. The costs of this appeal are assessed against the appellant.
AFFIRMED.
LANIER, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
. Since this is a pre-comparative case, contributory negligence would completely bar recovery.