Swanson v. Coos County

These consolidated cases present a single problem arising out of an identical factual situation. Plaintiffs5 decedents were drowned when a car in which they were occupants was driven at night off the end of a county-owned and maintained dock. Each complaint charges specific acts of negligence against the defendant. Demurrers to each were sustained. Both parties concede that the sole question is whether or not the defendant on January 12, 1969, the date of the accident, was immune from tort liability. The problem is one of statutory construction.

Unlike Fry v. Willamalane Park & Rec. Dist. 4 Or…