Court Opinion

ID: 9853983
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:58:48.101459+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:50.450220
License: Public Domain

COMPTON, Justice,
dissenting in part.
I agree with part II of the court’s opinion, holding that the trial court did not err by refusing to instruct the jury on strict liability. However, I also believe that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on res ipsa loquitur. The court holds, in essence, that the breakage of water mains due to frostjacking “does not ordinarily occur [in Alaska] in the absence of someone’s negligence.” Widmeyer v. Southeast Skyways, Inc., 584 P.2d 1, 11 (Alaska 1978). As the court acknowledges, the applicability of res ipsa loqui-tur, and thus the propriety of an instruction, is a question of law. Op. at 11. However, many jurisdictions refuse to apply res ipsa loquitur to water main breaks. E.g., Jennings Buick, Inc. v. City of Cincinnati, 63 Ohio St.2d 167, 406 N.E.2d 1385, 1390 (1980); City of Houston v. Church, 554 S.W.2d 242, 243-44 (Tex.App.1977); Roberts Realty Corp. v. City of Great Falls, 160 Mont. 144, 500 P.2d 956, 963 (1972).
As the court in City of Houston correctly observed, where there is evidence that in the locality a particular type of accident frequently occurs as the result of unpredictable natural forces, res ipsa loquitur should not apply; it cannot then be said that the accident “does not ordinarily occur in the absence of someone’s negligence.” City of Houston, 554 S.W.2d at 244. Cf. Widmeyer, 584 P.2d at 13-14 (unusual climactic conditions militate against finding this prong of res ipsa loquitur satisfied).
In Alaska we are faced with unusual and unpredictable climactic conditions. It is fair to observe that our climate is less kind than most to water mains, and that they frequently burst. State Farm’s own expert witness (Michael Shoemaker) acknowledged that water lines break here for several reasons unrelated to the installer’s negligence. Indeed, while he at one point testified that certain engineering precautions *732might help prevent frostjackmg, he acknowledged that water mains in Alaska not only can break despite such precautions, due to permafrost degradation or freezing, but that many have.
Accordingly, I would affirm the trial court in all respects.