Stensland v. Harding County, a personal injury case from the Supreme Court of South Dakota, involved a plaintiff who was injured when he drove over a washed out portion of the road. Prior to his accident, a local resident, whose driveway was along a county road, was traveling east with his family on the county road after it had been snowing and raining during the prior week. He ran over a ditch and then stopped to further investigate the condition of the road.
Upon further investigation, he noticed a hole in the road and water in another ditch. He stomped down on that section of road with his foot, and it collapsed. His wife called county officials to tell them of the collapse and the condition of the road in general. During the trial, the county official who received the warning call said he placed signs on that section of road, and he put what he referred to as a type I barricade near that section with a road closed sign prominently displayed. Continue reading