Court Opinion

ID: 9858866
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:59:48.506594+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:57:11.186702
License: Public Domain

PEDERSON, Justice,
dissenting.
Although I agree with nearly all that is stated by Justice VandeWalle, I believe that a new trial is inconsistent with substantial justice. Accordingly, I dissent from the results. Errors which do not “affect the substantial rights of parties” must be disregarded. Rule 61, North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure.
If a highway contractor is aware of any hazard to the public, the proximate cause being project activities, within the project site, and the signing required in the contract is inadequate to give notice, there is a duty to request additional warning signs.
The only sign that would have prevented the Patch-Sebelius collision would have been “Road Closed.” If the buildup of traffic and the jackknifing of the Sebelius vehicle when the brakes were applied were reasonably foreseeable, then Stremick Construction or Industrial Builders would have had a reason for requesting the closing of the road. The Highway Department should have denied the request because closing the road would not be in the public interest under these circumstances. Neither the Highway Department nor those who contract to improve highways are insurers or guarantors of travelers on public highways whether those highways are under construction at the moment or not. See 40 C.J.S. Highways § 254; 39 Am. Jur.2d Highways, Streets, and Bridges § 372.
If Ray Hunter’s truck had been loaded with marshmallows rather than bridge construction material, the same results would have likely occurred. The collision in this case is not proximately related to the highway project. 40 C.J.S. Highways § 264; 39 Am.Jur.2d Highways, Streets, and Bridges § 374.