Opinion ID: 1844551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the trial court erred when it failed to apply the active/passive dichotomy fundamental to mississippi negligence law?

Text: ¶ 10. MDOT contends that the trial judge erred by finding MDOT was negligent in the underlying action. In the complaint, Johnson alleged that MDOT was negligent due to its failure to have the bales of hay removed from the right-ofway. Johnson's logic follows that because MDOT failed to have the bales of hay removed from the right-of-way during the drought period, the cow was enticed to escape from the fenced pasture to eat the hay and then wander onto the roadway, resulting in the collision with the vehicle in which Johnson was a passenger. ¶ 11. In order to prevail on a negligence claim against MDOT, Johnson must: establish by a preponderance of the evidence each of the elements of negligence: duty, breach, causation and injury. Leflore County v. Givens, 754 So.2d 1223, 1230 (Miss.2000) (citing Lovett v. Bradford, 676 So.2d 893, 896 (Miss. 1996)). In Mississippi, a plaintiff may espouse one of three theories in support of a claim of negligence such as this: (1) that the defendant's own negligence created a dangerous condition which caused plaintiff's injury; (2) that the defendant had actual knowledge of the danger she faced as an invitee or (3) that based upon the passage of time, the defendant should have known about the dangerous condition caused by another party and if defendant had acted reasonably, i.e., constructive knowledge of that condition should be imputed to that defendant. K-Mart Corp. v. Hardy ex rel. Hardy, 735 So.2d 975, 980 (Miss.1999) (citing Downs v. Choo, 656 So.2d 84, 86 (Miss. 1995); Munford, Inc. v. Fleming, 597 So.2d 1282, 1284 (Miss.1992)). The plaintiff bears the burden of presenting significant probative evidence that the defendant was not only negligent, but also that such negligence was the proximate cause of the dangerous condition that resulted in the plaintiff's injury. Id. Miss. Dep't of Transp. v. Cargile, 847 So.2d 258, 262 (¶ 11) (Miss.2003). It is the constructive knowledge theory upon which Johnson relies. ¶ 12. In placing a duty upon MDOT to keep the right-of-way clear, Johnson relies on Miss.Code Ann. § 65-1-169 (Rev.2001), which states in pertinent part: The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to maintain property acquired for highway purposes free and clear of any obstruction, encroachment or any other use not authorized by the commission. ¶ 13. Johnson also relies on the testimony of Neal Peach, MDOT's district maintenance supervisor, to establish a duty. Peach testified as follows: Q. Why is that law there, because it would be a danger to motorists? A. Well, highway right-of-way belongs to the State of Mississippi and we are charged with keeping that rightof-way clear of encroachments. Every encroachment is not necessarily a danger to the traveling public. It's just the fact that we own the right-of-way and we are charged with that legal responsibility. Q. To remove it. And one of those things was hay; is that right? A. Yes. Q. And y'all had a duty to remove that from the right-of-way. Is that correct?
Undisputed testimony established that the bales of hay were at least 100 feet off the highway and adjacent to the property owner's fence line. Peach's testimony further revealed that there is a difference between an encroachment and what MDOT considers a hazard; specifically, MDOT recognizes a clear zone on this particular roadway to be 30 feet from the edge of the pavement and that [a]nything past the 30 feet is not considered to be a hazard. Indeed, we have stated: Motorists do not have the unlimited right to use every foot of a highway right-of-way and the Highway Commission is under no duty to furnish broad shoulders along every stretch of highway for the use of the motoring public. Milam v. Gulf, Mobile & O.R. Co., 284 So.2d 309, 311 (Miss.1973). While MDOT had authorization to have the encroachment removed, MDOT did not have a duty to do so. The hay did not pose a direct hazard to traveling motorists because the bales were located beyond the clear zone. ¶ 14. Further, even if MDOT had a duty to have the hay removed, the Mississippi rule of law regarding independent, intervening causes more or less establishes an active/passive dichotomy. Glorioso v. Young Mens Christian Ass'n, 556 So.2d 293, 296 (Miss.1989). In Glorioso, we refused to impose liability upon a party whose actions or omissions were passive in nature where another party actively placed into motion an intervening cause which lead unbroken in sequence to an injury. See also Saucier v. Walker, 203 So.2d 299 (Miss. 1967), Stewart v. Kroger Grocery Co., 198 Miss. 371, 21 So.2d 912 (1945); Louisville & N. Railroad Co. v. Daniels, 135 Miss. 33, 99 So. 434 (1924). ¶ 15. In Glorioso, a young boy was killed by a large pole left lying on the ground in the park by the city. The young boy and the other members of his baseball team were offered the prize of ice cream by a YMCA counselor to the one who could stay on the pole the longest while the counselor and others shook the pole. The shaking of the pole caused it to become extracted from the small indentation where it had been positioned and to also roll down the hillside, crushing and killing the boy. This Court found that even if the city had been negligent in placing the pole, the act of shaking the pole was an independent, intervening cause. In finding that the city was not liable for the death, we said: Although one may be negligent, yet if another, acting independently and voluntarily, puts in motion another and intervening cause which efficiently thence leads unbroken in sequence to the injury, the later is the proximate cause and the original negligence is relegated to the position of a remote and, therefore, a non-actionable cause. Negligence which merely furnishes the condition or occasion upon which injuries are received, but does not put in motion the agency by or through which the injuries are inflicted, is not the proximate cause thereof. Glorioso, 556 So.2d at 296 (quoting Miss. City Lines, Inc. v. Bullock, 194 Miss. 630, 13 So.2d 34, 36 (1943)). ¶ 16. In contrast, the record here is completely void of any active negligence by MDOT. Assuming arguendo that MDOT was negligent by permitting the hay to stay on the right-of-way, there was a series of independent, intervening actions which lead to the accident. MDOT did not place the hay on the right-of-way nor did it place the cow in the highway. At most, MDOT merely allowed hay to remain on its right-of-way at a safe distance from the highway, a condition which was not established to be a proximate cause of the accident. ¶ 17. The trial court found that Mauney's pasture was insufficient for feeding the cattle and that one of his cows broke though the gate, ate the hay, then stood on the roadway where it was struck by Crump's vehicle. However, there was no evidence that the cow belonged to Mauney, who testified that the animal did not belong to him and that he was not missing any of his cows. Crump also testified that she was driving late at night on an unlit highway slightly in excess of the posted speed limit and that she did not see the cow until the cow was about twelve feet away. ¶ 18. This Court acknowledges that the injuries sustained by Johnson were indeed severe. Johnson was hospitalized for over two months, has incurred medical bills in excess of $215,000, has sustained lost wages and wage-earning capacity, has experienced immense pain and suffering, and has diminished use of her right arm. However, even as here where grievous injuries and damages have been incurred, not every person injured will have a legal remedy against every defendant. In this instance, MDOT did not have a duty to remove the hay. Even if such a duty existed, there has been no showing that MDOT's permitting the hay to remain in the right-of-way was a proximate cause of Johnson's injuries. A meticulous review of the record in today's case reveals that, as to MDOT, evidence of duty, breach of duty and causation is woefully lacking.