Appellate Court Addresses Liability Issues Relative to Placement of Bus Stop In Pedestrian Injury Case

Bus Stop

In the case of Essington v. Monroe Co. Trans. Auth., No. 1081 C.D. 2022 (Pa. Cmwlth. July 11, 2023 McCullough, J., Dumas, J., and Wallace, J.) (Op. by McCullough, J.), the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed in part and reversed in part and remanded in part a trial court decision regarding the liability of certain Defendants in a case where a pedestrian was struck by a motorist after exiting from a bus at a bus stop near a residential development.

The appellate court held that, although the trial court properly ruled that PennDOT and the residential development had no control over safety conditions of a local transit authority’s bus stop, the trial court erred in granting the local transit authority summary judgment where there were allegations that the transit authority’s driver’s use of high beams allegedly blinded the other driver who struck the decedent.

The appellate court otherwise affirmed the entry of summary judgment in favor of PennDOT and the residential homeowner’s association.

The trial court had ruled that PennDOT was not liable because the real estate exception did not apply to policies or activities such as designing state roads.

The trial court had ruled that the homeowner’s association was not liable because it had no control over the bus stops and owed no duty to permit the transit authority buses to enter the development.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  To view the Court's September 23, 2023 Order changing its July 11, 2023 Opinion on the case from a Memorandum Opinion to an Opinion that shall be reported, please click HERE.

Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Sept. 19, 2023).