Opinion ID: 1855309
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Inherently Dangerous Activity

Text: Kime next asserts that the district court erred in determining as a matter of law that the transportation of cattle is not an inherently dangerous activity which would impose on Hobbs a nondelegable duty to see that his trailer and cattle were transported in a nonnegligent manner. Kime contends that even if Yelli is an independent contractor, Hobbs may not escape liability for Yelli's negligence because he was engaged in inherently dangerous work. We must determine whether or not the transportation of cattle in a tractor-livestock trailer unit is an inherently dangerous activity such that it imposes a nondelegable duty on the employer of an independent contractor. A nondelegable duty means that an employer of an independent contractor, by assigning work consequent to a duty, is not relieved from liability arising from the delegated duties negligently performed. Parrish v. Omaha Pub. Power Dist., supra . One such nondelegable duty is the duty of due care imposed on an employer of an independent contractor when the contractor's work involves special risks or dangers, including work that is inherently dangerous in the absence of special precautions. See, Anderson v. Nashua Corp., 246 Neb. 420, 519 N.W.2d 275 (1994); Parrish v. Omaha Pub. Power Dist., supra ; the Restatement, supra, §§ 416 and 427. A special or peculiar risk is one that differ[s] from the common risks to which persons in general are commonly subjected by the ordinary forms of negligence which are usual in the community. It must involve some special hazard resulting from the nature of the work done, which calls for special precautions. Id., § 416, comment d. at 397. See, also, Parrish v. Omaha Pub. Power Dist., supra . We have generally held that a motor vehicle is not an inherently dangerous instrumentality. Bridgeford v. U-Haul Co., 195 Neb. 308, 238 N.W.2d 443 (1976); Christensen v. Rogers, 172 Neb. 31, 108 N.W.2d 389 (1961); Deck v. Sherlock, 162 Neb. 86, 75 N.W.2d 99 (1956). However, we have not specifically addressed whether the operation of a loaded tractor-livestock trailer unit presents a peculiar risk of danger. Other jurisdictions have considered whether a loaded truck presents a peculiar risk so as to impose a nondelegable duty on the employer of an independent contractor and have concluded that the risk that there will be a mechanical malfunction, that the truck will be overloaded, or that the independent contractor will exceed the speed limit are ordinary risks that arise in the normal course of the work and which require only ordinary precautions. See, Ek v. Herrington, 939 F.2d 839 (9th Cir.1991) (holding that transportation of logs did not generally pose peculiar risk of harm); Williams v. Tenn. River Pulp & Paper, 442 So.2d 20 (Ala.1983) (holding that hauling of pulp timber does not constitute peculiar risk of harm). See, also, Restatement (Second) of Torts § 416, comment d. (1965). However, when a commodity such as several tons of logs is to be transported, the employer of an independent contractor may be subject to liability for failure to take special precautions to anchor it securely. Ek v. Herrington, supra . See, also, the Restatement, supra at comment d. Kime makes no allegation that the cattle were improperly secured in the trailer. Rather, she alleges that Yelli was negligent in his operation of the unit in failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to have his vehicle under reasonable control, and operating his vehicle at an excessive rate of speed. These risks attendant to the operation of the vehicle are precisely the risks that the employer of an independent contractor is justified in presuming that the contractor will act to avoid. We hold that the transportation of cattle in a tractor-trailer under normal conditions is not an inherently dangerous activity such that it imposes a nondelegable duty on the employer of an independent contractor to ensure that the cattle are transported in a nonnegligent manner. Accordingly, we determine that the district court did not err in finding that Hobbs was not engaged in an inherently dangerous activity which presented peculiar risks and that Hobbs, therefore, had no nondelegable duty to ensure that the cattle were transported in a nonnegligent manner.