In the case of , et al., Lee was a 13-year-old child who was struck by a truck as he was crossing a road on his way to school. The road connected the athletic fields to the high school building. Lee filed a complaint against the school and the City alleging that they were negligent in the performance of their duty protecting school children who utilize the school buses for transportation to Central Middle School and that their negligence proximately caused the crash. The complaint also alleged that they negligently failed to take reasonable measures to warn pedestrians utilizing the crosswalk and drivers on the road of the particular dangers of the crosswalk so as to reasonably mitigate the known dangers of the crosswalk.
The City of Columbus filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because of several factors. The City did not breach its duty of reasonable care because the road and crosswalk were reasonably safe and there were adequate warnings to alert drivers to the crosswalk. The City did not proximately cause the accident or Lee’s injuries because the driver was aware of the crosswalk. Lee’s claim was barred based on his own contributory negligence. The City was entitled to statutory immunity as a governmental entity under the Indiana Torts Claims Act. The trial court granted summary judgment for the City and Lee appealed.
The Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment based on contributory negligence. They held that the City was entitled to statutory immunity. Summary judgment was improper, however, because there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether the City breached its duty of reasonable care by installing conflicting speed limit signs and if any breach proximately caused the accident. The case was remanded back to the trial court.
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