Willet v. County of Lancaster

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Lancaster County in a negligence action arising from a collision at an allegedly obstructed intersection. Assuming the County owed and breached a duty concerning the berm or roadway warning, the court held that the other driver's unforeseeable failure to stop and entry into the intersection at high speed constituted an efficient intervening cause that broke proximate causation.

Holdings

1. A claimant under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act must prove duty, breach of duty, proximate causation, and damages; therefore, even assuming that the County waived immunity and breached a duty, Willet could not recover absent proof that the County's conduct proximately caused the collision.
2. McMackin's negligent failure to obey the stop sign and his entry into the obstructed intersection at approximately 45 miles per hour were unforeseeable to the County and constituted an efficient intervening cause that broke the causal connection between any County negligence and the collision.
3. Summary judgment for Lancaster County was proper because the undisputed evidence established that McMackin's negligence was an efficient intervening cause and no genuine issue of material fact existed regarding proximate causation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether summary judgment was proper on the ground that Lancaster County's alleged failure to maintain the intersection or warn motorists was not a proximate cause of the collision.
2. Whether McMackin's negligent failure to obey the stop sign and entry into the obstructed intersection at high speed was an unforeseeable efficient intervening cause that cut off the County's liability.

Disposition

affirmed