Suit against road commission contractor is dismissed

A Michigan highway contractor hired by the Presque Isle County Road Commission to install rumble strips in 2000 had a motion for summary disposition granted by 53rd Circuit Judge Scott Pavlich. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed by Robert and Noreen DePalma on behalf of the Craig Bidleman family of Sterling Heights, was dismissed against the road commission at a hearing in August. A similar motion by Clark Highway was taken under advisement at the time because Pavlich hadn?t received a response brief from the plaintiff.

The lawsuit stemmed from an automobile accident July 4, 2000, when four members of the Bidleman family were killed at the intersection of 634 Highway and County Road 451. The driver of a westbound vehicle failed to heed a ?stop ahead? sign, as well as the stop sign at the intersection, and hit the Bidleman vehicle without an attempt to brake. The driver was seriously injured and died later.

THE PLAINTIFFS claimed Clark Highway Services, Inc. breached its contract for the work with the road commission and should have been held liable for the resulting accident. Southfield attorney Dean Googasian, representing the Bidleman estate, said the accident ?was a terrible tragedy,? one that ?could have easily been prevented.? ?We believe that Craig Bidleman, Tina Bidleman, Florence Mary Bidleman, and Dana Bidleman — dad, mom, grandma, and sister — would still be alive today if the Presque Isle County Road Commission and Clark Highway Services had done their jobs and installed rumble strips at the intersection in a timely manner,? Googasian said in response to Pavlich?s decision. Clark was hired by the road commission in late May 2000 to install the rumble strips.

THE EVIDENCE in support of the motion established that prior to May 30, 2000, in the year 1999, road commission superintendent/manager Eric Rose was approached by Dave Glenn, who lives near the intersection where the accident occurred. Glenn advised Rose that he had seen drivers, on more than one occasion, run the stop sign at the intersection. Clark had performed work in the past for the county and a Clark employee called on May 25, and again on the 30th, to find out whether the road commission needed any work performed for the 2000 season. Rumble strips were a relatively new item Clark was providing. As a result of the phone call May 30, Clark was advised to install the rumble strips at the 451-634 intersection. They were installed on July 5, 2000.

ACCORDING TO Pavlich?s opinion, ?there is no showing on this record that Clark Highway Services breached its contract with the road commission by installing the strips on July 5, 36 days after the May 30 order was placed,? the judge wrote. Audrey Raden, a Clark employee, who took the order, testified at her deposition that the request was made that the strips be placed early in the paint season. Raden testified that this would be June, July, August, or September. Rose also testified that he did not believe Clark breached its contract.

Googasian argued at a hearing in August that Clark was in Presque Isle County doing work on June 6 and 7 and didn?t put the rumble strips in. Pavlich said the rumble strips were installed in the early part of the summer, and the road commission never requested a specific time for installation or conveyed to Clark that there was an urgent need to expedite this order.

AT THE TIME the contract was entered into between the road commission and Clark, the road commission had the ability to negotiate specific time frames for installation but no such request was made or agreed to, the judge wrote. ?Before any liability to any third persons can be generated, there must be a showing that Clark Highway materially breached its contractual duties to the road commission,? said Pavlich. ?On this record, no proofs have been presented that could allow a finding that Clark breached its contract with the road commission.?

?We continue to believe, in spite of any legal technicalities or excuses that Clark Highway, or Presque Isle County Road Commission may raise, that they are responsible for the deaths of Brandon Bidleman?s father, mother, sister, and grandmother,? said Googasian of the boy who was the only person to survive the accident.

THE RECORD DISCLOSED that there was some skepticism on the part of the road commission that the rumble strips were a viable option for northern Michigan, due to the fact that they may be destroyed by winter snowplowing. ?We believe that the Presque Isle County Road Commission knew that the intersection was dangerous and that rumble strips were needed,? said Googasian, ?and that the road commission hired Clark Highway to install those rumble strips, but the installation of the rumble strips was delayed because Clark Highway Services chose to wait for a part-time summer employee to come back from vacation in Europe.

?We believe it?s unreasonable to wait for a summer employee when lives are at stake.? Googasian said Tuesday no decision has been made on an appeal.