Opinion ID: 1218909
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the lack of primary negligence exception

Text: The Town first urges that Byford failed to present evidence which tended to show primary negligence by the Town. [1] Although called an exception to the constitutional provision, in reality it is a fundamental premise underlying all suits in negligence  without the primary negligence there can be no liability. The Town urges that it had no duty to maintain the alley, as it was not used by the public. However, the testimony showed that the Town had placed various power and utility lines and pipes in the alley. At times the Town had performed slight maintenance on the alley. The alley, while used primarily by Byford and his family, was accessible to the public and to the various town workers who installed the sewer pipe and performed maintenance. The Town relies on Town of Quapaw v. Holden, 96 Okla. 281, 222 P. 680 (1924) as authority for the proposition that maintenance is not required if the alley is not used by the public. In Quapaw, an alley was dedicated and shown on the town plat, but had never been used by the town. A woman was injured in the platted alley and sued the town. The Court held that there was no duty on the part of the town to maintain the alley since it had never been used by the town or been opened to the public. Quapaw is not controlling as to the present case, because here there was testimony that the dedicated alley was open to the public, although rarely used by it. The alley had also been used by the Town for the purpose of locating sewer and other utility lines, and had been subject to some maintenance by the Town. Furthermore, we have held in Bannister v. Farmers Alliance Mut. Ins. Co., 630 P.2d 1279, 1281 (Okla. 1981) that a city has a primary non-delegable duty to maintain its streets in a reasonably safe condition for the public. The test to determine whether the city was negligent is whether or not such municipality, in the exercise of reasonable care and prudence, could have or should have, anticipated danger and damages to the traveling public using the way. Rider v. City of Norman, 476 P.2d 312, 313 (Okla. 1970). The same standard of reasonable care on behalf of the municipality must extend also to alley ways. The Town also urges that the conditions causing Plaintiff's injury were open and obvious. It relies on cases affirming judgments for defendant cities where plaintiffs fell on sidewalks. Evans v. City of Eufaula, 527 P.2d 329 (Okla. 1974); Rider v. City of Norman, supra . In each of those cases, however, the Court pointed out that the plaintiff's view was clear, unobstructed, and in broad daylight. In Evans the crack in the sidewalk 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep was held trivial. Here we are unable to conclude from the record that the plaintiff's light bulb was so positioned that the depth of the ruts were open and obvious to him. Further, the ruts were deep enough that two witnesses testified they would not attempt to put their vehicles through the alley. The test of a municipality's negligence in a case such as here is whether or not such municipality, in the exercise of reasonable care and prudence, could have or should have, anticipated danger and damages to the traveling public using the way. Rider, 476 P.2d at 313. We find that, under the standard of review for demurrers to the evidence, construing reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff, Byford has presented evidence sufficient to show primary negligence on the part of the Town.