Morrison v. Township of Lumberton
Morrison v. Township of Lumberton
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Eugenia Morrison was fatally injured when a car driven by third-party defendant Joyce L. Riley proceeded through a stop sign and struck the car in which she was a passenger.
Lumberton was successfully granted summary judgment without opposition. Burlington also moved for summary judgment relying on our decision in Johnson v. Township of Southampton, 157 N.J.Super. 518, 385 A.2d 260 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 77 N.J. 485, 391 A.2d 499 (1978). Plaintiff responded by relying on our later decision in Shuttleworth v. Conti Construction Co., 193 N.J.Super. 469, 475 A.2d 48 (App.Div. 1984). The trial judge concluded that Johnson applied and dismissed plaintiffs complaint. We agree and affirm.
These are the facts. The accident occurred in Lumberton at the intersection of Stacy Haines Road, a county road, and Ark Road, a municipal road. The intersection is controlled by a stop sign on Ark Road and a “stop ahead” sign 475 feet from the intersection. There is no traffic control device on Stacy Haines Road. Riley was proceeding north on Ark Road traveling at about forty miles per hour. She claims not to have seen the stop sign
In Johnson, supra, plaintiff was injured when as a passenger on a motorcycle, the driver failed to properly negotiate a turn at a “Y” intersection and struck a guardrail. Plaintiff brought an action against the municipality asserting that the municipality maintained a dangerous condition by failing to provide adequate warning signs or devices and that the trees and bushes bordering the road, as well as an abutting grassy triangle at the “Y,” created a dangerous condition. We affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs complaint and made the following observations:
The road in question was unimpeded. Like any road or highway, there were obstructions next to the right-of-way which interfered with a compass range visibility but the roadway itself was unobstructed. There was nothing in or on the roads in question which constituted a dangerous condition.
.. The limited ability to make observations on either side of the road caused by trees and vegetation simply served as a warning that due care must be maintained.
[Johnson, supra, 157 N.J.Super. at 523, 385 A.2d 260.]
We distinguished Johnson in our decision in Shuttleworth, supra. In Shuttleworth, defendant’s car went through a stop sign striking plaintiffs car. The stop sign “was obscured by a bush so that it
We conclude that Johnson applies here. The expert report focuses on sight lines and sight triangles at the intersection, that is, the point of the stop for the stop sign. More importantly, however, no mention is made by either Riley or the expert that the stop sign was in any way obscured or blocked by vegetation or a condition that could be remedied short of trimming back hundreds of feet of trees. Riley generalized observation that she had a feeling of “tunnel vision” is hardly sufficient to meet the necessary standard for establishing that Burlington maintained a dangerous condition which would bring this ease within Shuttleworth.
We note as well that Ark Road was not a county road but a municipal road. While the obligation to maintain the stop sign rested with Burlington, nothing is contained in the record to suggest that the stop sign itself was obscured. By their very nature, foliage and trees along a roadway will have a “blocking” effect. This is the type of condition that we considered in Johnson. The broad duty to cut back foliage hundreds of feet from the sign is one that would be imposed on Lumberton rather
We are satisfied that Judge Almeida correctly conclude that Johnson governs under the facts presented and properly granted summary judgment.
Affirmed.
Plaintiff Joseph J. Morrison, the driver, brings this action individually and as administrator ad prosequendum for the Estate of Eugenia Morrison. For ease of reference, we will refer to Joseph J. Morrison as plaintiff.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.