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Texas Department of Transportation v. Garza

A sign that accurately reflects the legal speed limit, even though the plaintiff believes that limit was too high considering the sign's proximity to a school zone, does not fall within the Texas Tort Claims Act waiver provision.

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On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas

Argued on October 2, 2001

In this case we once again construe section 101.021(2) of the Texas Tort Claims Act, which waives the sovereign immunity of governmental units for claims of “personal injury and death so caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property.” See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code � 101.021(2). Specifically, we must decide whether a sign that accurately reflects the legal speed limit, even though the plaintiff believes that limit was too high considering the sign’s proximity to a school zone, falls within this waiver provision. The court of appeals held that immunity was waived because a forty-five mile-per-hour speed-limit sign’s location near a school zone was a condition that should have been corrected by the State under section 101.060(a)(2), which permits waiver of sovereign immunity for the absence, condition, or malfunction of a road sign if it is not corrected by the responsible governmental unit within a reasonable time after notice. ___ S.W.3d ___; see also Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code � 101.060(a)(2). We hold that the plaintiffs’ allegations do not come within the Tort Claims Act’s waiver of sovereign immunity for a “condition” of a traffic sign. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and render judgment dismissing the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

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