AUSTIN - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the dismissal of an automobile collision lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation.
Court records show the lawsuit was brought by Daniel Christ and Nicole Salinas. While traveling through a roadway construction site, the plaintiffs collided head-on with a vehicle that crossed into their lane.
According to the high court’s opinion, the plaintiffs sued several parties, including TxDOT, alleging premises liability based on the condition of the construction zone.
In particular, they contend that the demarcation of opposing travel lanes with painted yellow stripes and buttons instead of the concrete barriers called for in the project’s traffic control plan created an unreasonably dangerous condition, the opinion states.
TxDOT responded to the suit with a combined plea to the jurisdiction and no-evidence motion for summary judgment, arguing it retained sovereign immunity under the Tort Claims Act because roadway-design decisions are discretionary, and also that the plaintiffs failed to present evidence creating a fact issue on the elements of their premises-defect claim.
Court records show the trial court denied TxDOT’s plea and motion. TxDOT appealed and an appellate court reversed the decision and dismissed the claim for want of jurisdiction.
The high court concluded that the plaintiffs have not established a waiver of sovereign immunity under the Tort Claims Act.
“We hold that the plaintiffs failed to raise a fact issue on whether the substitution of stripes and buttons for concrete barriers created such a condition,” the opinion states. “Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals’ judgment dismissing the claim against TxDOT.”
Case No. 21-0728