State v. Burris Ex Rel. Burris

The principal question in this case is whether a car illegally turning onto a highway or momentarily stopped on it can be a premises defect or special defect, which the state must warn against. The court of appeals answered “yes”. 876 S.W.2d 163. We disagree.

The parties stipulated to the operative facts, which are as follows. Late one afternoon Mark Burris was driving his truck in the outside lane of a four-lane divided highway in Port Arthur. As he approached the intersection of a cross-street, he moved left into the inside lane. Ahead of him, an un identified car entered the highway from…