Opinion ID: 1608478
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is This the Type of Decision the Immunity is Designed to Protect?

Text: We next turn to the second part of the Berkovitz test. The city argues its decision in timing the traffic lights is immune from liability because it was based upon policy considerations. Though Graber has not cited any decisions holding that timing traffic signals in a certain manner is not immune from liability, our research revealed this very issue has been considered once before by our court. Over thirty-six years ago in Gorman v. Adams, we held the City of Cedar Rapids was not entitled to immunity for its new and unusual signaling sequence of a traffic light which caused an accident. 259 Iowa 75, 84, 143 N.W.2d 648, 653 (1966). In that case, the plaintiff entered an intersection driving in a westerly direction. The defendant, driving in an easterly direction, left her lane of traffic to turn and cross northeasterly into the westbound lane of traffic. In doing so, the defendant blocked the westbound lane in which the plaintiff was traveling. The two cars collided. The plaintiff argued the timing of the traffic lights caused a defect in the condition of the road for which the city was not immune from liability. In Gorman, we recognized the rule of governmental immunity is to be strictly construed against a municipality. Id. at 80, 143 N.W.2d at 651. We stated, even assuming that the city was exercising a governmental function, nevertheless liability may arise. Id. at 82, 143 N.W.2d at 652. Despite the several cases finding the timing of traffic signals is a governmental function entitled to immunity, we held to the contrary. We based this decision, in part, upon Iowa Code section 389.12 (1962), stating a municipality shall have the care, supervision, and control of all public highways, streets, avenues, alleys, public squares, and commons within the city, and shall cause the same to be kept open and in repair and free from nuisances. Iowa Code § 389.12 (1962). [1] Gorman seemingly interpreted this statute to mean care, supervision, and control of streets includes the actions of a city in regulating traffic. We held the timing of traffic lights is indistinguishable from a city's failure to maintain a traffic signal in good physical condition. We analogized Gorman to a previous case in which we denied immunity where a boy was killed by a falling traffic signal. See Hall v. Town of Keota, 248 Iowa 131, 79 N.W.2d 784 (1956). The nuts and bolts of the light pole were worn and rusted so that the traffic signal became a trap and an inherently dangerous instrumentality. Id. at 134, 79 N.W.2d at 785. Our case law on discretionary function immunity has been significantly refined in the past thirty-six years and continues to evolve. Though our current state tort claims statute is nearly identical to the statute in effect in 1962, our analysis of immunity cases has greatly changed. In Gorman, we did not examine whether the city based its decision in timing the traffic-lights on legitimate policy considerations. Instead, we determined the city's failure to perform the statutory duty imposed by section 389.12 resulted in liability despite the fact the function involved was a governmental action based upon judgment. We do not decide the case before us based upon our holding in Gorman. Rather, our analysis must go further to determine whether the city's timing of the traffic signals was based upon legitimate public policy considerations. For the reasons stated below, we hold the city's actions in timing the sequence of the particular traffic signals at the intersection of State Street and Oralabor is not immune from liability. At some point, a distinction must be drawn between a mere choice and a choice based upon the meaningful exercise of discretion. See Christensen v. Mower County, 587 N.W.2d 305, 308 (Minn.Ct.App.1998). It can be argued every action taken by a government employee involves the exercise of discretion. However, not all actions involving discretion are immune from liability. [T]he operative distinction is the one between a judgment that embodies a professional assessment undertaken pursuant to a policy of settled priorities and a fully discretionary judgment that balances incommensurable values in order to establish those priorities. Shansky v. United States, 164 F.3d 688, 694 (1st Cir.1999). We must determine whether some plausible policy justification could have undergirded the challenged conduct. The critical question is whether the acts or omissions that form the basis of the suit are susceptible to a policy-driven analysis, not whether they were the end product of a policy-driven analysis. Id. (citing Rosebush v. United States, 119 F.3d 438, 444 (6th Cir.1997)). In other words, an immune governmental action is one that weighs competing ideals in order to promote those concerns of paramount importance over the less essential, opposing values. Whether or not the city actually made its decision with policy considerations in mind is not determinative. Instead, the city's actions in timing the lights must be amenable to a policy-based analysis. The circumstances must show the city legitimately could have considered social, economic, or political policies when making judgments as to the timing of the traffic signal. In examining whether the city's decision was based upon legitimate policy considerations, the existence of professional judgment may be one factor to consider. However, professional judgment alone is not sufficient to elevate the discretionary function to such a level as to immunize it from liability. We do not consider the subjective intent of the person making the governmental decision as it is irrelevant to our immunity analysis. Shansky, 164 F.3d at 692. Rather, we look at the nature of the governmental action to determine whether the city could have considered legitimate policy-based factors in its decision to set the timing sequence of the traffic lights in a particular manner. Legitimate policy-based considerations are those supported by social, political, or economic policies. Doe, 652 N.W.2d at 444. It takes more than a mere label of policy to rise to the level of a legitimate policy-based consideration. To be legitimate, the policies must be ones which the municipality genuinely could have considered and balanced in making its judgment. Undeniably, there are a number of factors the city could have considered in determining the timing of the traffic signals at this intersection. The Ankeny municipal ordinance reflects the city's policy interest in warning and guiding traffic throughout the city. The city considered the configuration of the intersection, the volume and direction of traffic into the intersection, and whether it was necessary to favor certain drivers over others. The city needed to set the sequence of the lights to accommodate eighty percent of the traffic making turning movements. As a general safety concern, the city was already having problems at this intersection with the original four-and-a-half second yellow interval. It was concerned that increasing the length of the yellow could cause more drivers to attempt to beat the red light. In general, when a city determines the timing sequence of traffic signals, it bases its decision, in part, upon the desire to provide orderly and safe movement of traffic throughout the city. See Aguehounde v. Dist. of Columbia, 666 A.2d 443, 448 (D.C.1995). As such, it was necessary for the city to consider traffic in surrounding areas as it affects a particular intersection. Finally, pedestrian traffic may be considered in deciding the appropriate timing of traffic signals. See id. All of the above considerations are based upon one priority onlythe city's overarching safety concern. [W]hether a discretionary act is policy-driven cannot be short-circuited simply by raising the specter of a general safety concern. Shansky, 164 F.3d at 693. The mere existence of a sweeping safety consideration does not catapult the city's actions into the zone of immunity for decisions based upon social, economic, or political policy. See Doe, 652 N.W.2d at 445. Though the city may have considered preordained safety policies, that is not sufficient to ascend to the level of an immune policy-based action. Almost every decision made by a public employee is done with respect to general safety considerations. However, individual decisions made under the umbrella of safety considerations are not immune. There must be something more than bald-faced assertions of safety at the center of the city's decision. Other than pre-determined safety considerations, there is no evidence that anyone of authority balanced any priorities of competing importance. See Shansky, 164 F.3d at 694; Messerschmidt v. City of Sioux City, 654 N.W.2d 879, 882-83 (Iowa 2002). The city has failed to show any broad-sweeping economic, political, or social considerations were at the heart of its decision on how to time this traffic signal. There is no evidence to suggest the city's judgment would have involved any policy-making. Doe, 652 N.W.2d at 444 ([t]he more the ... judgment involved policy-making the more it is to be recognized as immune from judicial process). The city's conduct was not entwined in a layer of policy-making that exceeded the mere application of rules to facts. Id. at 446. The city's decision in timing these traffic signals is the same as the ordinary, day-to-day decisions faced by all municipalities in regulating their streets. The factors considered by the city here are not legitimate policy-based considerations implicating governmental functions. Id. at 445. A governmental action is not afforded immunity simply because a municipality announces that the action was policy-based. The challenged action must lend itself to a policy-based analysis. Here, the city judgment was based on nothing more than a generic safety consideration. As such, the city is not immune from Graber's tort action. [2] The facts before us show the movement of both Graber and Allen was controlled by the traffic signals that were operating according to the timing sequences the city had previously set. In setting the sequence, the city's professional judgment did not rise to the level of that of an immune discretionary function because it was not based upon legitimate policy considerations. We reverse and remand.