Patterson v. Cowley County, Kansas

The opinion of the court was delivered by Biles, J.:

*435 This interlocutory appeal arises from wrongful death lawsuits alleging Bolton Township, Cowley County, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) negligently failed to provide adequate traffic-control devices-warnings, signs, or barriers-on a rural road that abruptly ends at a riverbank. Two people drowned when their vehicle drove off the road and flipped end-over-end into the river. Our focus is on three discrete aspects: (1) the Township's legal duty regarding traffic-control devices; (2) the County's failure to…