Opinion ID: 1107805
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Heading: Whether the power company was required to recognize the hazard

Text: A power company is required to recognize that its conduct involves a risk of causing harm to another if a reasonable person would do so while exercising such attention, perception of the circumstances, memory, knowledge of other pertinent matters, intelligence and judgment as a reasonable person would have. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 289(a) & (b) comment m and illus. 9-14 (1965); cf. Madere v. So. Pac. Transp. Co., 383 So.2d 456 (La.App. 4th Cir.1980); Shively v. Pickens, 346 So. 2d 1314 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1977); see also, Harper, James and Gray, The Law of Torts § 16.5 (1986). If the company has in fact more than a minimum of these qualities, it is required to exercise the superior qualities that it has in a manner reasonable under the circumstances. See Restatement (Second) of Torts, supra, § 289(b). The standard becomes, in other words, that of a reasonable person with such superior attributes. Id. Comment m. It is well recognized that those who engage in certain activities or come into certain relationships with people or things are under a peculiar obligation to acquire knowledge and experience about that activity, person or thing. See generally, Harper, James and Gray, supra, § 16.5. A carrier owes to its passengers the duty of discovering all detectable defects. Johnson v. Continental Southern Lines, Inc., 113 So.2d 114 (La.App. 2d Cir.1959); Smith v. New Orleans Public Serv., Inc., 391 So.2d 962 (La.App. 4th Cir.1980). Manufacturers must learn of dangers that lurk in their products. La.C.C.Code art. 2476; Philippe v. Browning Arms Company, 395 So.2d 310 (La.1980); Rey v. Cuccia, 298 So.2d 840 (La.1974); Weber v. Fidelity & Casualty Insurance Co. of N.Y., 259 La. 599, 250 So.2d 754 (1971); Horne v. Liberty Furniture Co., 452 So.2d 204 (La.App. 5 Cir.1984); Holden v. Clearview Dodge Sales, Inc., 416 So.2d 335 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1982); Schneider v. Eli Lilly and Co., 556 F.Supp. 809 (1983); Restatement (Second) of Torts, supra, § 395, comments. Traditionally, professionals as well as manufacturers must keep reasonably abreast of current advances in their fields. See Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 484 So.2d 110 (La.1986); see Harper, James and Gray, supra, § 16.5. By the same token, a company which maintains and employs high power lines is required to exercise the utmost care to reduce hazards to life as far as practicable. Hebert v. Gulf States Utilities, supra; Simon v. Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation, 390 So.2d 1265 (La.1980). Pursuant to this duty, a power company has an obligation to make reasonable inspections of wires and other instrumentalities in order to discover and remedy hazards and defects. Spillars v. Louisiana Power and Light Co., 49 So.2d 474 (La.App. 2d Cir.1950); Scott v. Claiborne Elec. Co-op. 13 So.2d 524 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1943). Consequently, a company will be considered to have constructive knowledge of an electrical hazard which has existed for a period of time which would reasonably permit discovery had the company adequately performed its duties. Potts v. Shreveport Belt Ry. Co., 110 La. 1, 34 So. 103 (1903); Bourgoyne v. Louisiana Public Utilities Co., 150 So. 68 (La.App. 1st Cir.1933); Carlock v. Westchester Lighting Co., 268 N.Y. 345, 197 N.E. 306 (1935); Roberts v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 102 Cal.App. 422, 283 P. 353 (1929). In the present case there is no dispute as to the fact that the power company had actual knowledge of the oil company's regular use of trucks with erectable high masts around its wells. Because this activity had continued on a regular basis over a long period of time the power company should have been aware of the physical characteristics of this equipment and any electrical hazard it might create. An Amoco employee testified that although the E.C. Stuart # 2 Well was not a problem paraffin well, the paraffin was removed from it every two to three weeks. Levi testified that other wells in the field were serviced as frequently as every week. The truck involved in the accident was designed to cut paraffin accumulating in the wells. The truck itself measured 19 feet in length. The mast attached to the rear of the truck with hinges, 7.4 feet above ground level, was 26.5 feet long. Thus, when raised to its full height the mast extended approximately 34 feet above ground level. Since the power company knew that its uninsulated 14,400 volt electric line passed near the oil wells at a level of only 25 to 26 feet above ground, the company should have known that electrical hazards would be created if masts were raised near the line. The evidence clearly indicates that the power company was aware of these potential dangers and took significant precautions against them in choosing the route of its line. The 22 oil wells in the oil field had been completed when the power company constructed its transmission line. The company purposefully routed the line, in most instances, so as to give wide berth to each well and to avoid crossing over well access roads. Except for the E.C. Stuart # 2 Well, according to the exhibits, the power line was kept at distances of 76.5 to 212 feet from the wells. At one site other than the Stuart Well the line partially encroached upon the well access road, but the line there was placed approximately 150 feet away from the well. Thus, the design of the power line route, except at the Stuart Well, afforded workers with high-masted equipment ample working area free of electrical hazards, and, at all wells except Stuart and one other, completely safe access, as margins of error against their negligence or inattentiveness. At the E.C. Stuart # 2 well site, however, the power company placed its line completely across the access road only 40.5 feet from the well and only 25.7 feet above ground. The evidence indicates that the power company designed the route of its distribution line to avoid such risks at every other well site but failed to do so at the E.C. Stuart # 2 Well because of an error in its original construction plans. Many of the power company employees observed roustabouts working with high masted equipment around wells in the oil field on a regular basis for many years. A routine visual inspection would have given the power company notice that careless or inattentive operation of the high masted equipment could cause an electrical accident. Thus, the company definitely had actual or constructive knowledge that oil field activity involving equipment capable of extending vertically some 34 feet and horizontally some 45 feet was occurring regularly at the E.C. Stuart # 2 Well. Further, the company knew that the route of its line allowed only 40.5 feet between the well and the point at which its 25.7 foot high uninsulated wire crossed over the access road within which to conduct these operations. We do not think reasonable minds can disagree with the conclusion that the power company, particularly with its superior knowledge, skill and experience in electrical safety, should have recognized that its conduct under these circumstances involved a risk of harm to oil field workers. Aside from the obvious serious possibility that an inattentive worker might raise the mast while parked on the access road too near the power line, there were similar chances that a falling mast could pass dangerously close to the line or that a careless roustabout might attempt to drive under the line on his way to another well without fully lowering his mast. The power company complains that it should not be charged with recognition of any risk that takes effect through a victim's negligence. But the ordinary reasonable person, and even more so the power company, is required to realize that there will be a certain amount of negligence in the world. When the risk becomes serious, either because the threatened harm is great, or because there is an especial likelihood that it will occur, reasonable care may demand precautions against that occasional negligence which is one of the ordinary incidents of human life and therefore to be anticipated. Murphy v. Great Northern R. Co., 2 Ir.Rep. 301 (1897); See Prosser and Keeton on Torts, supra, § 33 at p. 198; Restatement (Second) Torts, supra, § 302A. It is not due care to depend on the exercise of care by another when such reliance is accompanied by obvious danger. See Putt v. Daussat, 381 So. 2d 955 (La.App. 4th Cir.1980); Dragotis v. Kennedy, 190 Minn. 128, 250 N.W. 804 (1933); Prosser and Keeton, Id. Moreover, the power company had actual knowledge of previous instances of oil field workers' negligence or inattentiveness in moving erect masts under or near the uninsulated power lines. Its own employee testified that he had warned other roustabout crews of danger on two previous occasions when they drove under the uninsulated electric line on a board road with their masts partially or fully erect.