Delk v. Quiktrip Corp.

Plaintiff could not recover for the injuries she sustained when she slipped on a raised gas storage tank cover at the defendant's gas station because she had actual knowledge of the hazard before she stumbled.

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In this static defect case, Mae Francis Delk, plaintiff below, appeals the grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on her negligence claim against Quiktrip Corporation for personal injuries suffered when she twisted her foot on a raised gas storage tank cover while traversing a store parking lot. Delk contends there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether she exercised reasonable care for her own safety because rain and heavy traffic constituted a distraction. For the following reasons set forth below, we affirm.

In reviewing the grant of summary judgment, we construe the evidence in favor of the nonmovant and conduct a de novo review of the evidence. Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins.1 So viewed, the record reveals that on May 5, 1999, between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and during a fine rain, Delk drove her car to the Quiktrip store near her home to obtain gasoline. She circled the lot and stopped at a pump near one end of the pump islands which was at an angle to the station office. After pumping her gasoline, Delk, who was wearing sneakers, took a diagonal path from the pump to the sidewalk in front of the store to pay for her gasoline. To reach the store’s front door, she had to pass through the pump area, cross two lanes of traffic between the pumps and the store, weaving to the right or left to avoid the traffic, and walk between two cars parked perpendicular to the front of the store. As she walked across the lanes of traffic and the parking area in order to enter the building, she crossed an area of the pavement in which covers or caps to the gasoline storage tanks were situated. The gas caps were located in front of the store in the driving lane and parking area to the right of the store doorway and across from several of the gas pump islands.

Delk v. Quiktrip Corp.

Plaintiff could not recover for the injuries she sustained when she slipped on a raised gas storage tank cover at the defendant's gas station because she had actual knowledge of the hazard before she stumbled.

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