Greyhound Lines, Inc. “Greyhound” appeals from the trial court’s denial of its motion for summary judgment in this personal injury case brought by a passenger, Laura Williams.1 For the following reasons, we reverse. “Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We review the grant or denial of summary judgment de novo, construing the evidence in favor of the nonmovant.” Citations and punctuation omitted. White v. Ga. Power Co. , 265 Ga. App. 664, 664-665 595 SE2d 353 2004. So viewed, the record shows the following undisputed facts.
In September 2003, Williams boarded a Greyhound bus in California, en route to Augusta, Georgia. Shortly after noon on September 19, while driving through Alabama, the bus driver took the wrong exit off of the interstate. As the driver attempted to turn the bus around in a parking lot, the bus became stuck. The driver instructed all of the passengers to exit the bus, and Williams and the other passengers exited the bus without incident. The driver did not tell the passengers where to go while they were waiting or how long the bus would be stopped. Williams walked away from the bus and the parking lot onto a nearby flat, grassy field, which she had determined was a safe area in which to walk while she waited. She was by herself and did not know where the other passengers went while they were waiting. Williams did not ask for any assistance while walking around, nor did she think she needed any assistance. She wandered around the field by herself for at least 20 minutes to get some exercise and to look for a place to sit. She was about 30 feet away from the bus when she suddenly heard a cracking sound in her foot. Williams did not know what happened, but she presumed that she had stepped in a hole in the field and twisted her ankle. She admitted that she never saw a hole before or after she twisted her ankle, but speculated that she did not see it “because of the dirt and everything around it.” Williams sustained a broken ankle.
