Opinion ID: 2209506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Road Ruts

Text: When Woollen's accident occurred in February 1992, the surface of Highway 136 at the accident site was covered with asphaltic pavement. Over time, traffic had formed ruts on the highway's surface. In the westbound lane in which Woollen was traveling prior to the accident, the depth of the ruts was from one-half inch to over an inch. Trial evidence showed that some ruts were deeper than three-fourths of an inch at the point at which Woollen's car began to hydroplane. As a result of the highway's downward slope and steady rainfall on the day of the accident, water had filled and flowed out of the ruts, forming a pool across the highway. It was at this pool of water that Woollen lost control of his car when it began hydroplaning. Fact witness Roger Batterscher testified that shortly before the accident, Woollen's car passed Batterscher's car after Batterscher had reduced his speed from 50 m.p.h to approximately 40 m.p.h. because of the highway ruts and the pooling water. Batterscher testified that in his experience, the road's rutted surface made it unsafe to drive at the 55-m.p.h. posted speed limit when the road was wet. The existence and depth of the ruts in the vicinity of the accident were not seriously disputed at trial. In 1972 and 1973, the State resurfaced Highway 136 at the accident location, applying a new asphaltic surface. No other changes were made to the highway or to the culvert and headwall. In 1989, the State Department of Roads commenced the Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reconstruction Project, which came to be known as the 3R Project, for Highway 136 at and near the accident site. As part of the 3R Project, the State extensively studied the highway's condition, and thus, the State was aware prior to Woollen's accident of the highway's slope, its deep surface ruts, and other automobile accidents caused by hydroplaning which had occurred in the approximate location of Woollen's accident. In 1971 and again in 1991, the State adopted highway design and maintenance standards which specifically addressed, inter alia, the safety risks posed by ruts in road surfaces and the proper situation of culverts in relation to the edges of roadways. The trial court accepted evidence of these and other related standards, including exhibit 18, Minimum Design Standards; exhibit 74, Pavement Management System; exhibit 75, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices; exhibit 232, the State's 1988 supplement to the manual found at exhibit 75; and exhibit 233, Standards and Guides for Traffic Controls for Street and Highway Construction, Maintenance, Utility, and Incident Management Operations, published by the Federal Highway Administration. Documents entitled Nebraska Highway Needs Study for the years 1988 to 1990 were received as exhibits 86 through 88. For convenience, we refer to these exhibits collectively as the safety standards. According to the safety standards, ruts three-fourths of an inch deep posed an unacceptable safety risk. Woollen's expert witness, William Berg, also so testified.