$.POHL V. COUNTY OF FURNAS
682 F.3d 745 (8th Cir. 2012)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Pohl (P) sued County (D) for negligence over an automobile accident
and the court found both parties negligent and apportioned 40% to 60% respectively.
Everybody appealed.
FACTS: Pohl (P) at around 9 p.m. that evening, with light snow was falling mistakenly
turned west onto Drive 719 which is located a half mile north of Road 719. Drive 719 is a
gravel road that does not have a posted speed limit but is subject to a general statutory
limit of 50 miles per hour. Unlike Road 719 which continues in a straight line west of
Highway 47, Drive 719 has a ninety-degree curve one mile after its intersection with Highway
47. At the time of Pohl's accident, a posted sign was placed at least 110 feet in front of
the curve. The sign was two feet square with a yellow background and contained a black arrow
with a ninety-degree bend. After turning onto Drive 719, P accelerated to 63 mph, traveling
with his high beam headlights on. When P neared the warning sign, he braked too late to
prevent the car from missing the curve and going off the road. The car hit an embankment,
rolled, and came to rest upside down in a culvert. At daybreak, P managed to drag himself to
a nearby farmhouse where the residents called an ambulance. It was later determined that he
had a fracture and cord compression in his thoracic spine as well as frostbite in his feet.
He underwent a decompression and fusion to treat the spinal injury. P sued D for common law
negligence under the district court's diversity jurisdiction. The district court found that
D was negligent because of the 'combination of the sign's lack of retroreflectivity and its
placement. It also found that this negligence and P's negligence in driving 13 miles over
the speed limit were the proximate causes of his accident and injuries. The court allocated
60% of the negligence to D and 40% to P. The district court then calculated that P was
entitled to $678,606.14 in damages for medical expenses and pain and suffering, and awarded
him $407,163.38 following a reduction for his comparative negligence. Both parties appealed.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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