U-Haul Hits Tree, Tree Wins

A man hit a tree with a U-Haul truck. He sued the city of Seattle for personal injury.

The tree was in a planter along a sidewalk on a Seattle street. The man claimed the City failed to maintain a reasonably safe roadway. The trial judge found for the City. The man appealed.[1]

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In Washington, government entities are held to the same negligence standard as private parties. A government entity has a duty to maintain its roads so that they are reasonably safe for ordinary travel. The Court of Appeals concluded that the City of Seattle did not breach that duty.

The man argued that the tree was dangerously overhanging the roadway. Buses use the same street, but Metro had not complained about that tree, nor had anyone else. A photograph taken a year earlier undermined the man’s theory that an overhanging branch was too low. The trial court concluded that the U-Haul struck the tree over the curb – not a low, overhanging branch.  The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court.

The Court found that the City had no notice of the dangerous condition, and did not create a dangerous condition. Therefore, the City is not liable.

By personal injury attorney Travis Eller



[1] Nguyen v. Seattle, ____ Wn.App. ____ (NO. 69263-1-1 January 27, 2014).

Posted in Injury Claims Against Government and tagged , .