Court Opinion

ID: 9540442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:16:02.100066+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:50.905742
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s determination that Utilimaster, as the owner of land adjacent to a highway, owed a duty of care to Gessinger and other members of the general public traveling on the highway. Such a determination represents a departure from precedent limiting the *565duty of a landowner to protect members of the public at large.
The duty of a landowner to exercise ordinary care in the management of its property usually does not extend to persons outside the land, on adjacent property or on a sidewalk or highway. Nava v. McMillan (1981), 123 Cal.App.3d 262, 266, 176 Cal.Rptr. 473, 476, cited with approval in State v. Flanigan (1986), Ind.App., 489 N.E.2d 1216. An exception to the general rule exists where the physical harm caused to the persons outside the land is a result of dangerous activities conducted on the land. Id.
To remove a case from the general rule proscribing off-premises liability, two conditions must be satisfied. First, there must be a relationship between the landowner and the agency causing the problem on the adjacent property. Blake v. Dunn Farms, Inc. (1980), Ind., 413 N.E.2d 560, 564. Secondly, it must be shown that the landowner maintained a hazardous condition or conducted some activity on its property, beyond the mere fact of operating a business, which caused the injury on the adjacent property. Snyder Elevators, Inc. v. Baker (1988), Ind.App., 529 N.E.2d 855, 858.
Pitcairn v. Whiteside (1941), 109 Ind.App. 693, 34 N.E.2d 943, upon which the majority relies, is a case falling within the exception to the general rule. In Pitcairn, the defendant railroad caused heavy smoke to drift across the traveled portion of a highway. Because the railroad itself caused the problem on the abutting highway, a clear relationship was established. Moreover the railroad, by burning off the right-of-way, had engaged in a hazardous activity beyond the mere operation of its business. The Supreme Court therefore found a duty on the part of the railroad to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to travelers upon the highway. Id. at 701, 34 N.E.2d at 946-947.
The majority stresses that a relationship existed in the instant case between Utili-master and the problem on State Road 19. However, there is no indication that the problem resulted from a condition maintained or activity conducted by Utilimaster, beyond the mere fact of operating a business. To the contrary, the exodus of employees from the work place when their shift ends is incidental to the operation of a business. Because Utilimaster had engaged in no activity beyond the operation of its business, it owed no duty to Gessinger or other members of the general public traveling on State Road 19.
For the foregoing reasons, I vote to remand with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of Utilimaster.