Court Opinion

ID: 9522802
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:32:27.278181+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:03:58.327998
License: Public Domain

PETITION FOR TRANSFER
DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
An intersection of two public roads is a special place. Maintenance crews are routinely at such locations to deal with problems relating to grading, drainage, and proper signing. Given the danger which dense growth at such locations poses to motorists, farmers on tractors, persons on horseback, cyclists, pedestrians, and even maintenance crews; given what I believe to be the fact that citizens living near and routinely traversing intersections often clean them up for the safety and health of friends and family and therefore relieve the county of the obligation; given the existing statutory duty under Ind.Code § 8-17-14-1 of the county to remove many of the varieties of weeds from all county right of way including intersections; and given the simple remedy of having crews add the varieties of weeds not included in the statute to their checklists and to whack down the most offending ones when discovered at intersections; given these factors, I judge that if the counties have not had a duty of this nature as part of their duty to maintain reasonably safe roads, it is high time they did as a matter of the common law.