Court Opinion

ID: 9779456
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:51:15.13425+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:26.024911
License: Public Domain

LIVINGSTON, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the result of the court’s opinion but respectfully disagree with its opinion to the extent it finds, as a matter of law, that TU Electric owed no duty to the plaintiff under the facts and circumstances of this case. I believe the case of City of McAllen v. De La Garza, 898 S.W.2d 809 (Tex.1995) is distinguishable under these facts. The De La Garza opinion discusses when the duty to a driver travelling on a highway exists. The opinion deviates from the main prior decision, City of Fort Worth v. Lee, 143 Tex. 551, *61186 S.W.2d 954 (1945) wMch found no duty was owed by an adjacent landowner because the condition created by the landowner was in existence prior to the time the street was constructed and dedicated. Instead, the De La Garza court focuses on section 368 of the Restatement (Second) of ToRts which the Texas Supreme Court has followed. See, e.g., Alamo Nat’l Bank v. Kraus, 616 S.W.2d 908, 911 n. 3 (Tex.1981).
I believe that the summary judgment motion and summary judgment evidence could create a factual issue for the trier of facts. Here, the facts fall somewhere in between those of the City of Fort Worth and Kraus.
In the City of Fort Worth, the excavation existed prior to the creation of the street and was apparently an inherently dangerous condition in and of itself. Under that scenario, the Texas Supreme Court held the city, which was charged with maintaining the roadway, owed a duty to an injured third party since the condition existed when the roadway was built. City of Fort Worth, 186 S.W.2d at 957.
In Kraus, the dangerous condition was created by an adjacent owner and the dangerous condition itself created the hazard which injured the person on the highway. The damage occurred on the highway when an unsupported wall fell on and killed a motorist in a passing car.
While the standard or light pole in and of itself could not be deemed to be a inherently dangerous condition, it would appear that there is a factual question created as to whether the driver, under these facts and circumstances, deviated from the ordinary course of travel.
According to comment g, section 368 of the Restatement (Second) of ToRts as adopted in the De La Garza opinion:
[The duty does not arise] where the traveler intentionally deviates from the highway for a purpose not reasonably connected with travel upon it_ Likewise this Section has no application where the deviation is one not reasonably to be anticipated, or is for a purpose not normally connected with the travel, as where the traveler runs off of the highway when pursued by criminal seeking his life. The distinction is ... between those which are normal incidents of travel and those which are not.
Restatement (Second) of ToRts § 368 cmt. g (1965). The Supreme Court in applying this standard held, “He was not traveling with reasonable care upon the highway nor was his deviation in the ordinary course of travel.” De La Garza, 898 S.W.2d at 812. (Presumably, the evidence of the blood alcohol of the driver and the fact that he fell asleep at the wheel weighed heavily with the court.)
Here, if the nonmovant presented some evidence that the driver was traveling with reasonable care and that her deviation was in the ordinary course of travel, the movant’s motion for summary judgment would have faded. Evidence that favors the movant’s position will not be considered unless it is uncontroverted. Great Am. Reserve Ins. Co. v. San Antonio Plumbing Supply Co., 391 S.W.2d 41, 47 (Tex.1965). However, since there is no summary judgment evidence in the record showing the non-movant’s “reasonableness” or that her “deviation” was normal, I concur in the result.