Court Opinion

ID: 9858865
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:59:48.504084+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:57:07.462306
License: Public Domain

SAND, Justice,
concurring specially.
I agree that the provisions of the manual on uniform traffic control devices and related matters, including statutes, gave the contractor authority to erect warning *644signs. However, after reaching this conclusion, I wish to emphasize that merely concluding that the contractor had this authority but did not exercise it fully, or properly, as may be viewed from hindsight, does not ipso facto make the contractor liable. A number of serious questions of fact remain which need to be resolved. What, if anything, would have been different if a warning sign had been placed in the general vicinity stating the nature of the situation? Furthermore, what would have been an appropriate sign? And where should it have been placed? I make this comment on the basis that a sign stating the road was under construction for the next thirteen miles had been placed. Even using hindsight as to what the sign should have or could have stated, the big question remains, how would it have avoided or prevented the accident? Thus, the serious question is, was it the negligence of the contractor by failing to post an appropriate sign the proximate cause, or was it the negligence of Patch that produced the accident and damages? These questions need to be resolved by taking into account the factual situation as it existed at the time of the accident, which, out of necessity, includes and rests to a great degree upon the manner in which Patch approached the area in which the accident occurred. Generally, seeing a number of cars lined up on the highway is a strong indication that caution should be exercised. This necessarily presents the ultimate question; did Patch, under the circumstances, act in a reasonable, prudent manner?