Opinion ID: 1160084
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: King County argues that it is entitled to summary judgment, dismissing it from liability as a matter of law for it did not breach any duty owed to Ruff, nor was its conduct the legal cause of Ruff's injuries. Ruff insists that King County failed to correct a known hazard. Specifically, Ruff contends that the lateral area where Kennedy's car left the road was inadequate and irregular and a guardrail was needed to compensate for these defects. Ruff argues that summary judgment is not appropriate since these factors raise issues of fact as to King County's negligent maintenance of 154th Place S.E. [1-3] This court has stated that a summary judgment motion under CR 56(c) may be granted if the pleadings, affidavits, and depositions before the trial court establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that as a matter of law the moving party is entitled to judgment. Dickinson v. Edwards, 105 Wn.2d 457, 461, 716 P.2d 814 (1986); Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wn.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982). The reviewing court must take the position of the trial court and assume facts most favorable to the nonmoving party. Hartley v. State, 103 Wn.2d 768, 774, 698 P.2d 77 (1985); Braegelmann v. County of Snohomish, 53 Wn. App. 381, 383, 766 P.2d 1137, review denied, 112 Wn.2d 1020 (1989). A material fact is of such a nature that it affects the outcome of the litigation. Barrie v. Hosts of Am., Inc., 94 Wn.2d 640, 642, 618 P.2d 96 (1980); Braegelmann, at 383. The issues of negligence and proximate cause are generally not susceptible to summary judgment. LaPlante v. State, 85 Wn.2d 154, 159, 531 P.2d 299 (1975); see also Ferrin v. Donnellefeld, 74 Wn.2d 283, 444 P.2d 701 (1968); Wojcik v. Chrysler Corp., 50 Wn. App. 849, 751 P.2d 854 (1988). However, when reasonable minds could reach but one conclusion, questions of fact may be determined as a matter of law. Hartley, at 775. In the instant case, the Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment because it found that a material question of fact existed as to whether a guardrail was necessary to make the roadway safe at this location. We do not agree. [4] Negligence consists of (1) the existence of a duty owed to the complaining party; (2) a breach of that duty; and (3) a resulting injury. Hansen v. Washington Natural Gas Co., 95 Wn.2d 773, 776, 632 P.2d 504 (1981); LaPlante, at 159. For legal responsibility to attach to the negligent conduct, the claimed breach of duty must be the proximate cause of the resulting injury. LaPlante, at 159. [5] A county has a duty to maintain its roadways in a reasonably safe condition for ordinary travel by persons using them in a proper manner. [2] Stewart v. State, 92 Wn.2d 285, 299, 597 P.2d 101 (1979); Provins v. Bevis, 70 Wn.2d 131, 138, 422 P.2d 505 (1967); Wojcik, at 854; see also Don F. Vaccaro, Annotation, Liability of Governmental Entity or Public Officer for Personal Injury or Damages Arising Out of Vehicular Accident Due to Negligent or Defective Design of a Highway, 45 A.L.R.3d 875 (1972). Accordingly, King County has a duty to maintain 154th Place S.E. in a reasonably safe condition for ordinary travel. The record shows that at the time of the accident the asphalt was in excellent condition. The striping along the roadway was clearly visible. The speed limit was clearly posted. The width of the road, including the shoulder, was normal for this type of roadway and the experts agreed that the signing was appropriate for the roadway. Notwithstanding, Ruff argues that his experts establish the need for a guardrail at the accident site, thus creating an issue of fact as to King County's negligence. [6-8] We recognize that the duty to maintain a roadway in a reasonably safe condition may require a county to post warning signs or erect barriers if the condition along the roadway makes it inherently dangerous or of such character as to mislead a traveler exercising reasonable care, or where the maintenance of signs or barriers is prescribed by law. Hansen, at 778; Lucas v. Phillips, 34 Wn.2d 591, 595, 209 P.2d 279 (1949); Tanguma v. Yakima Cy., 18 Wn. App. 555, 558-59, 569 P.2d 1225 (1977); see also Bartlett v. Northern Pac. Ry., 74 Wn.2d 881, 447 P.2d 735 (1968); Wessels v. Stevens Cy., 110 Wash. 196, 188 P. 490 (1920); Leber v. King Cy., 69 Wash. 134, 124 P. 397 (1912). This duty does not, however, require a county to update every road and roadway structure to present-day standards. Tanguma, at 560. Nor does the duty require a county to anticipate and protect against all imaginable acts of negligent drivers for to do so would make a county an insurer against all such acts. Stewart, at 299; see also Owens v. Seattle, 49 Wn.2d 187, 191, 299 P.2d 560, 61 A.L.R.2d 417 (1956). Ruff cites no ordinance or statute requiring the installation of barriers. However, he contends that since the lateral recovery area at the accident site was less than 10 feet wide, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards required installation of a guardrail. AASHTO standards have not, however, been officially adopted by King County. [3] The record shows that King County has promulgated its own standards and neither Ruff nor his experts assert that King County violated those standards. Moreover, King County and AASHTO guidelines do not require that roadways be retrofitted with new design structures. [4] Since Ruff does not argue that King County violated its road standards by failing to install a guardrail at 154th Place S.E. and no statute mandates these barriers, whether King County is negligent depends upon whether the roadway was inherently dangerous or deceptive to a prudent driver. As this court said in Leber : Here we have a road graded and in repair, fifteen feet wide, which is wide enough for all ordinary travel unless it be in the populous centers of the state. We think it will require no argument to make plain the fact that here there was no extraordinary condition or unusual hazard of the road. A similar condition is to be found upon practically every mile of hill road in the state. The same hazard may be encountered a thousand times in every county of the state. Roads must be built and traveled, and to hold that the public cannot open their highways until they are prepared to fence their roads with barriers strong enough to hold a team and wagon when coming in violent contact with them, the condition being the ordinary condition of the country, would be to put a burden upon the public that it could not bear. It would prohibit the building of new roads and tend to the financial ruin of the counties undertaking to maintain the old ones. The unusual danger noticed by the books is a danger in the highway itself. (Italics ours.) Leber, at 136-37. Under this standard, King County did not have a duty to install a guardrail at 154th Place S.E. [9] The undisputed evidence establishes that at the time of the accident the surface of 154th Place S.E. was in excellent condition, the markings and signing were appropriate, and the width of the road including the shoulder was standard. None of the experts testified that the roadway was inherently dangerous or deceptive. [5] Moreover, while the experts stated that a guardrail would have redirected the vehicle, no expert opined that a guardrail would have prevented injury. We cannot find negligence based upon speculation or conjecture. Kristjanson v. Seattle, 25 Wn. App. 324, 326, 606 P.2d 283 (1980). Consequently, based on the evidence, we conclude that no issue of material fact exists regarding the condition of the roadway. Since there is no duty to make a safe road safer, the trial court correctly granted King County's motion for summary judgment. In view of the foregoing, we need not reach King County's arguments that it was not the proximate cause of Ruff's injuries nor that its decision regarding placement of guardrails is protected by discretionary governmental immunity. The Court of Appeals is reversed. DURHAM, C.J., UTTER, DOLLIVER, SMITH, GUY, and JOHNSON, JJ., and ANDERSEN and BRACHTENBACH, JJ. Pro Tem., concur.