Parks v. Utah Transit Authority

1 In this wrongful death case, the parents of the deceased, plaintiffs Ron and Cindy Parks, appeal from an amended judgment they obtained against defendant Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that had been reduced by the trial court from $785,000 to $250,000 pursuant to section 63-30-34 of the Utah Code, which imposes a cap on damages in actions against governmental entities.

Background

2 Dustin Parks was traveling west in his automobile on 4500 South in Salt Lake County. A UTA bus was traveling east on 4500 South, intending to turn left on 500 East. As the traffic light for east-west traffic turned yellow, the bus turned left in front of Dustin. His car struck the right front of the bus, killing him.

3 At trial, the jury found UTA negligent and returned a verdict awarding general damages of $387,500 to each plaintiff and $10,000 in special damages. A judgment was entered for that amount. Subsequently, UTA moved to limit the total amount of the judgment to $250,000 based on section 63-30-34(1)(a) and (b) of the Utah Governmental Immunity Act (the Act). In a memorandum decision, the trial court held that UTA's activities "were governmental, as opposed to proprietary," and thus fell within the scope of the Act. It further explained that in reaching its conclusion, it had considered "the overall operations" of UTA, not the specific activity UTA was engaged in at the time of the accident. It held that a $250,000 per person limit, not a $500,000 per occurrence limit, applied and entered an amended order reducing the total judgment to $250,000. Plaintiffs appeal from the reduced judgment, assailing it on several grounds including constitutional challenges.

* * *

Click the case caption above for the
full text of the Court's opinion.

¶24 Judgment affirmed in favor of Plaintiff for $250,000.

Unavailable

Unavailable

C.L.