In the United States, agencies (state, federal, local, municipal). reserve immunity for themselves but consent to being held accountable by way of statute. Tackling any government’s agency right to sovereign immunity is, like any effort to enforce accountability, a righteous cause. Always.

The Georgia Department of Transportation cannot fully escape a lawsuit alleging that it is responsible for a passenger killed at a highway’s intersection, a state appeals court has ruled, saying the government is not entitled to sovereign immunity on claims its road inspections were negligent.

A three-judge panel said Tuesday that the parents of Ashleigh Munro, who died in a November 2017 crash, can’t bring claims that the intersection that allegedly caused the incident was negligently designed. But the appeals court allowed them to pursue claims that the transportation department had a duty to maintain and inspect the intersection, saying the question is separate from that of engineering design.

“We agree with the Munros that this claim involves the inspection and maintenance of the subject intersection and not its engineering design,” the panel said. “So we also agree with the Munros that immunity is waived to the extent that the DOT’s role included inspection of the state roadway and intersection itself to detect hazards or to determine compliance with laws, regulations, codes, or ordinances.”

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1693280?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2023-06-28&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=19?copied=1