HOUSTON - Yesterday, the 14th Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling granting the city of Houston’s plea to the jurisdiction in a personal injury case arising from a motorcycle accident.
The lawsuit was brought by Jason Kownslar back in 2017. The original petition named the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County as a defendant.
According to Kownslar’s appellate brief, on June 28, 2015, he was driving a motorcycle eastbound on or about the 400 block of Rusk Street and approaching the intersection at Bagby Street in Houston. Kwonslar alleged that as a result of METRO’s negligence, he was severely injured when his motorcycle tire came in contact with the defective and unreasonably dangerous METRO rail tracks, causing him to fall onto the road and be severely injured.
Kownslar’s catastrophic injuries resulted in quadriplegia, the brief states.
Kownslar’s amended petition added the city of Houston as a defendant, asserting that the city had the right of control over the roadway where the incident occurred.
Court records show the trial court’s final judgment sustained the city’s plea to the jurisdiction based on governmental immunity, leading Kownslar to appeal.
The 14th Court concluded that the evidence before the trial court conclusively proved that the alleged defective condition does not fall within the narrow class of defects that are special defects under section 101.022(b) of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
The section states that the limitation of duty does not apply to the duty to warn of special defects such as excavations or obstructions on highways, roads, or streets or to the duty to warn of the absence, condition, or malfunction of traffic signs, signals, or warning devices as is required by section.
“Because the plaintiff has not shown that the trial court reversibly erred, we affirm,” the opinion states.
Court records show Justice Margaret Poissant dissented.
“I believe that the evidence before the trial court conclusively proved that the condition of the light-rail track was a special defect,” Poissant worte. “Furthermore, I believe the other grounds asserted by the City of Houston in its plea to the jurisdiction are unmeritorious.
“Accordingly, I would reverse the trial court’s order granting the City’s plea to the jurisdiction.”
Kownslar is represented by the law firms of Richard J. Plezia & Associates and Tina Robbins Law.
City Attorney Ronald Lewis represents the city.
Appeals case No. 14-19-00963-CV