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WPI 140.01.01 Duty of Governmental Entity to Remove or Correct a Hazardous Roadway Condition

6 WAPRAC WPI 140.01.01Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6 Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 140.01.01 (7th ed.)

Washington Practice Series TM

Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

April 2022 Update

Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions

Part X. Owners and Occupiers of Land

Chapter 140. Governmental Entities

WPI 140.01.01 Duty of Governmental Entity to Remove or Correct a Hazardous Roadway Condition

The [county's] [city's] [town's] [state's] duty includes a duty to take reasonable steps to remove or correct hazardous conditions that make a [road] [street] [sidewalk] [bridge] unsafe for ordinary travel [including hazardous conditions that may exist along the [road] [street] [sidewalk] [bridge]].

NOTE ON USE

Use this instruction with WPI 140.01 (Sidewalks, Streets, Bridges, and Roads—Duty of Governmental Entity) if the facts of a case involve an issue of whether or not a governmental entity took reasonable steps to correct or eliminate a hazardous roadway condition.

This instruction should not be used if it duplicates the duties set forth in WPI 140.01 (Sidewalks, Streets, Bridges, and Roads—Duty of Governmental Entity).

Use bracketed material as applicable.

Use the last bracketed phrase if the case involves an unsafe roadside hazard or condition.

COMMENT

This instruction is new for this edition.

A governmental entity has the duty “to maintain its roadways in a condition safe for ordinary travel.” Wuthrich v. King County, 185 Wn.2d 19, 25, 366 P.2d 926 (2016) (quoting Owen v. Burlington N. & Santa Fe R.R. Co., 153 Wn.2d 780, 786–87, 108 P.3d 1220 (2005)).

This duty includes a duty to take reasonable steps to remove or correct hazardous conditions that make a road unsafe for ordinary travel. As stated in Wuthrich:

Our more recent precedent makes it clear that a municipality has “the overarching duty to provide reasonably safe roads for the people of this state to drive upon.” Owen, 153 Wn.2d at 788. Addressing inherently dangerous or misleading conditions is simply “part of” that duty. Id.
…
Whether the County breached its duty depends on the answers to factual questions: Was the road reasonably safe for ordinary travel, and did the municipality fulfill its duty by making reasonable efforts to correct any hazardous conditions? Id.
…
In sum, we reaffirm that a municipality has a duty to take reasonable steps to remove or correct for hazardous conditions that make a roadway unsafe for ordinary travel …

Wuthrich v. King County, 185 Wn.2d at 26–27.

In Wuthrich, the court “explicitly” held that a governmental entity's “duty to take reasonable steps to remove or correct for hazardous conditions that make a roadway unsafe for ordinary travel includes hazardous conditions created by roadside vegetation.” Wuthrich v. King County, 185 Wn.2d at 27.

A municipality's duty to maintain its roadways in a reasonably safe condition for ordinary travel is not confined to the asphalt. If a wall of roadside vegetation makes the roadway unsafe by blocking a driver's view of oncoming traffic at an intersection, the municipality has a duty to take reasonable steps to address it.

Wuthrich v. King County, 185 Wn. 2d at 23. This holding is consistent with earlier cases such as Breivo v. City of Aberdeen, 15 Wn.App. 520, 550 P.2d 1164 (1976), that recognize that governmental entities have a duty to provide a forgiving roadside in the placement of objects outside of the traveled roadway. See also Smith v. Acme Paving Co., 16 Wn.App. 389, 558 P.2d 811 (1976). The duty also extends to hazardous conditions along the shoulder of a road and steep embankments and drop-offs along the side of the road. See Raybell v. State, 6 Wn.App. 795, 496 P.2d 559 (1972); Prybysz v. City of Spokane, 24 Wn.App. 452, 601 P.2d 1297 (1979).

In some cases, the word “keep” in WPI 140.01 (Sidewalks, Streets, Bridges, and Roads—Duty of Governmental Entity) may be sufficient to cover the duty set forth in this instruction, and this separate instruction may not be necessary.

[Current as of September 2018.]

End of Document