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Spoo v. T.L. Wallace Construction Co.10/28/2003
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED
. Tabatha Spoo, by and through her mother, Detrece Spoo, as next friend, appeals the decision of the Attala County Circuit Court to grant summary judgment to the defendant, T. L. Wallace Construction Company, and dismissing the complaint with prejudice. Tabatha assigns two errors for our review:
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING NO GENUINE ISSUE OF MATERIAL FACT ALTHOUGH THE DEFENDANT FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE TRAFFIC CONTROL PLAN.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING NO GENUINE ISSUE OF MATERIAL FACT ON WHETHER DEFENDANT WAS NEGLIGENT IN NOT INSTALLING ADDITIONAL BARRICADES AND WARNINGS AFTER NOTICE OF PUBLIC USE OF THE BYPASS.
. Because we find the defendant did not breach its duty of care, we affirm the grant of summary judgment.
FACTS
. In October 1999, T. L. Wallace Construction Company (Wallace) was building a two-lane road between Highways 35 and 14, thereby creating a bypass around the southern perimeter of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Three bridges were constructed between these two points, Bridges A, B and C, with Bridge C closest to Highway 35, the eastern terminus of the project. Although the bridges were intact, the road itself was unfinished and unpaved. The road bed was approximately thirteen inches lower than the bridge, essentially creating a one foot cement wall at the bridge approach. This was to be corrected in the final paving of the road.
. In order to cross a bridge to attend other work before the paving of the road, Wallace had erected make-shift dirt ramps at either end of a bridge in use. These ramps were later removed when no longer needed.
. At the Highway 35 end of the project, three possible points of ingress or egress existed: a one-lane entrance ramp in the south-bound lane; a one-lane exit ramp to the north-bound lane; and a two-lane entrance and exit in the center. The one-lane entrance and exit ramps were blocked by orange and white barricades measuring twelve feet wide and four feet high, each of which had attached a sign reading ROAD CLOSED. The two-lane entrance/exit had two such barricades side by side, at least one of which also carried a ROAD CLOSED sign. In addition to the barricades, the entrance ramp was blocked by five orange and white barrels while the exit ramp was blocked by two barrels.
. Shortly after midnight on October 30, 1999, Dale Spoo was driving north on Highway 35. In the backseat of his Chevrolet Blazer were Dale's three children, three year old twins and a two year old son. Dale's fourteen year-old niece, Tabatha Spoo, rode in the front passenger seat. Two other vehicles traveled in a caravan with the Blazer. Dale's sister, Denise, and her boyfriend drove in one of the other vehicles and Michael Kellum, a friend of Dale's, in the other.
. The occupants of these other two vehicles saw Dale drive around the barricades at the two-lane entrance and proceed onto the unopened bypass road. Denise and Kellum both continued on Highway 35. Dale crashed into the thirteen inch unfinished approach to Bridge C. Wallace had removed the dirt ramp more than a week earlier. Dale was killed at the scene. Tabatha suffered bilateral broken ankles and a broken back, resulting in partial paralysis. At least one of the small children in the back seat was injured but the extent of those injuries are unstated in the record.
. Expert opinion estimated Dale's speed at the time of impact as between fifty and fifty-five miles per hour, based upon an evaluation of the extensive damage to the Blazer. The Blazer also
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