James K. Prewitt, Special Judge Plaintiffs sought damages from defendant as a result of personal injuries to plaintiff Clarence
M. Wilkes on March 10, 1984. Plaintiffs' petition alleged that he was injured on a Missouri highway under the "charge" of
defendant when a motor vehicle he was operating came into contact with an icy spot upon a flooring of the bridge, collided
with the bridge rail, and left the bridge. Plaintiffs claimed in their petition that the bridge was so situated that an operator of a motor vehicle had no notice of
it until almost upon it, and thus it constituted a dangerous condition. The petition also said that defendant was negligent
in failing to erect signs warning of the danger of the bridge being icy or warning drivers to reduce their speed when approaching
the bridge; and that the roadway and bridge were negligently constructed because they posed a danger to motorists by reason
of a curve in the road just before the bridge.
