Credit: faboi/Shutterstock Courtroom U-Turn: Utility Company Owed Duty of Care to Man Injured in Crash Involving Stolen Vehicle
In the case before the Washington Court of Appeals, there was a "very narrow duty not to leave one's motor vehicle running with the door open, on a roadway, while leaving the vehicle unguarded out of sight, when an unknown individual is nearby and it is foreseeable that the person might steal the vehicle." Judge Bernard F. Veljacic wrote, finding a utility company owed a duty of care to a man seriously injured in a crash involving a stolen work vehicle.
June 12, 2023 at 11:16 AM
4 minute read
The Washington Court of Appeals sided with a man who was seriously injured in a head-on crash involving a stolen water utility company vehicle, finding the district and its employee owed a duty of care to the victim when a truck unattended and running prior to being taken.
Judge Bernard F. Veljacic wrote the May 31 opinion for Division Two of the Washington Court of Appeals. The three-judge panel unanimously held that Lakewood Water District (LWD) owed Paul Adgar, who had been struck and seriously injured by one of the company's stolen vehicles, a duty of care under the specific facts of the case, and therefore, reversed the trial court's order granting of summary judgment.
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