Posted on by Stephen Tuck

Obscuring the drivers’ vision

Recently I shared a decision from the Coroners Court where a tree shading a streetlight contributed to a road death.  A recent case from Kansas has taken a different approach to the obligations of owners of trees.

It was mid-afternoon on 14 September 2011, and Darren Manley was driving north on Anderson Road in Labette County, Kansas.  At the same time a truck driven by John Patton was being driven west on the intersecting County Road 20000.  Trees growing on land adjoining the intersection obscured the drivers’ view of each other.  Manley was killed in the resulting collision.

Labette
Rural road, Labette County, KS (Image from here)

Mr Manley’s estate sued the owners of the land where the trees grew.  It was alleged that they had wrongfully caused his death by allowing the trees to obstruct the vision of passing motorists.  The owners sought summary dismissal of the claim which was granted by Labette County District Court.  The plaintiff’s appeal to the Court of Appeals was also dismissed: Manley v Hallbauer, 387 P. 3d 185 (2016).  They further appealed to the Supreme Court of Kansas.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal, finding that the landowners had no duty of care.  It noted that any duty of care would need to be consistent with public policy.  Kansas common law reflected a public policy not to impose tort liability on persons in the position of the landowners in this case.

As our primary policy consideration, this court adheres to precedent “‘unless clearly convinced that the rule was originally erroneous or is no longer sound because of changing conditions and that more good than harm will come by departing from precedent.'” …. Manley does not persuade us to abandon the traditional rule that a landowner owes no duty in the circumstances of this case. We conclude the determination of the existence of duty is better resolved by following our precedent that embraces the traditional rule, especially because of the public policy that underlies that rule.

The Court duly concluded that “a landowner whose property abuts a rural intersection owes no duty to passing drivers to trim or remove trees or other vegetation on the property”.

Manley v Hallbauer (Supreme Court of Kansas, 10 August 2018)

Posted on by Stephen Tuck

A tragedy in Paradise

Road accident lawyers sometimes fall into the lazy trap of thinking that because there’s a problem in a vehicle, negligence is a given.  A recent case from the Pacific islands offers a reminder about thinking through causation.

On 12 September 2011, a truck driven by a member of Kiribati Protestant Church on church business hit a young girl who ran across the road.  The accident caused her fatal injuries.  Because of rain, the vehicle was travelling at 20-30 kilometres (12-18 miles) an hour.  The uncontested evidence of the driver was that the child had run in front of the vehicle suddenly.  The police investigation found that the truck’s breaks were defective and had to be pumped to operate.

So Tarawa
South Tarawa, Kiribati (Image from here)

The defendant was charged with dangerous driving causing death: Traffic Act 2002 (Kiribati), §31 –

The driver of a motor vehicle must not drive the vehicle on a road recklessly or in a manner dangerous to persons using the road.

Penalty:

… (c) for an offence causing death – a fine of not more than $2,000 or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both.

He was acquitted on the basis that (inter alia) there was no evidence that the defective brakes had contributed to the accident.  There had been no time to brake before impact: Republic v Mikaere (Zehurikize J, High Court of Kiribati, 10 November 2016, unreported).

An appeal was lodged on the basis that the verdict was against the weight of evidence, in particular the “finding that the evidence did not establish that the respondent had driven in a dangerous manner by driving when he knew the brakes to be defective”.

The Kiribati Court of Appeal noted the trial judge’s finding that the deceased had run suddenly in front of the truck and that –

The defective brakes played no part in the accident. The respondent had no opportunity to apply the brakes until after impact. We note that when he did so he stopped 10 metres further on, confirming that he was driving at a moderate speed and was able to brake effectively.

The appeal was dismissed.

Attorney-General v Mikaere (Kiribati Court of Appeal, Blanchard, Handley and Hansen JJA, 16 August 2017, unreported)

Posted on by Stephen Tuck

Eight years. One second.

It’s impressive he was even functioning.

In March 2017 a Melbourne truck driver was about to end an eight year ice binge.  He didn’t mean to.  He had been swerving erratically on the Calder Freeway.  The cars ahead were slowing for roadworks that morning.  He reacted, at most, a second before he crashed into the back of boilermaker Kari-Pekka Maunus’ utility, killing the 49-year old boilermaker.  He was charged with causing death by culpable driving.

highway
Image from here

The Crimes Act 1958 (Vic.) §318 relevantly provides that

(1) Any person who by the culpable driving of a motor vehicle causes the death of another person shall be guilty of an indictable offence and shall be liable to level 3 imprisonment (20 years maximum) or a level 3 fine or both.

(1A) The standard sentence for an offence under subsection (1) is 8 years.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) a person drives a motor vehicle culpably if he drives the motor vehicle … whilst under the influence of a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the motor vehicle.

The charge was dealt with in the Melbourne County Court. Judge Wraight imposed a sentence of six years imprisonment with a minimum term of four years

Director of Public Prosecutions v Templeton (2018) Herald Sun, 2 June 2018, p.31.