Porter v. Knife River, Inc.

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for highway construction contractors in a negligence action arising from a police officer’s fatal collision with a crane on a highway closed for construction. The court held that the contractors satisfied their statutory and ordinary-care duties by placing suitable barricades and warning signs at the ends of the closure, and that the evidence did not present a genuine issue of material fact.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was proper because the pleadings and evidence showed no genuine issue of material fact and the contractors were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. Section 39-1345 defines the contractors' duty to warn entrants of a closed highway through suitable barricades, fences, or other enclosures and warning signs at both ends of the closed portion, and limits the duty to persons entering without NDOT permission or consent.
3. Traffic-control devices such as barricades placed at the termini of a closed road need not absolutely prevent entrance.
4. A highway contractor exercising reasonable care is not required to place signals or flares at intermediate locations within a closed highway to warn that machinery is being used or that construction defects exist when warning signs and barricades at the termini notify the public that the highway is under construction and the condition of the highway shows it is incomplete.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court properly granted summary judgment to the highway contractors on the administrator's negligence claims.
2. Whether Neb. Rev. Stat. § 39-1345 required the contractors to provide suitable barricades and warning signs at both termini of the closed highway, or also required intermediate signals, flares, illumination, or additional devices to warn of the crane.
3. Whether the evidence created a genuine issue of material fact regarding the suitability of the traffic-control devices or the contractors' exercise of ordinary care.

Disposition

affirmed