Opinion ID: 882912
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Montana Department of Highways Maintenance Manual

Text: Section 3.110 of the Montana Department of Highways Maintenance Manual provides: The major portion of the highway right of way has been fenced either by the adjoining landowner or by the state. The maintenance of this fence is detailed in the right of way agreement. On Interstate highways, however, the fence and its maintenance are the responsibility of the Department of Highways. Highway fences may be important as any other safety device on the highway and, thus, so are their maintenance. Placement of a fence not only outlines the limits of the right of way, but also keeps humans and animals away from hazardous areas. Careful inspection and routine maintenance should not be neglected. The District Court ruled that the maintenance manual imposed no duty on the State to erect fences. The court determined that violations of the manual provide evidence of negligence only after the existence of a legal duty has been established. The Yagers make a dual argument relating to the manual. First, they argue that the manual affirmatively imposes a duty on the State to maintain the fence, relying on Townsend v. State (1987), 227 Mont. 206, 738 P.2d 1274, and Hash v. State (1991), 247 Mont. 497, 807 P.2d 1363. Neither Townsend nor Hash holds, or infers in any way, that provisions of the maintenance manual impose a duty. Second, the Yagers assert that a violation of the maintenance manual is evidence of negligence and that negligence is a fact question for the jury, relying again on Townsend and Hash. On this basis, they argue that the District Court erred in granting summary judgment. Townsend and Hash do support the Yagers' contention that violations of the manual are evidence of negligence. Townsend, 738 P.2d at 1276; Hash, 807 P.2d at 1366. However, the cases do not preclude summary judgment in the present case. The existence of a duty was not at issue in either Townsend or Hash ; the State's general duty to keep highways in a reasonably safe condition was applicable to the facts of those cases. Under those circumstances, we concluded that proof of the State's failure to comply with the manual was evidence of negligence. Here, appellants have not established the existence of a legal duty by the State to erect or maintain fences along the interstate highway to prevent livestock from gaining access. Thus, the question of whether the State breached its duty, to which violations of the manual as evidence of negligence properly could be addressed, simply does not arise in this case. We conclude that the highway manual does not impose a duty on the State to maintain the fence. Absent the existence of a legal duty, the manual cannot be used as evidence that the State negligently maintained the fence.