MoDOT endorses legal reforms as lawsuit costs rise

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Department of Transportation officials say tort reform is needed to reduce the agency's litigation costs for savings that could be shifted to road construction.

Chief operating officer Pat Goff said MoDOT settles claims when it is legitimately at fault, but it is often targeted in litigation as the party with the deepest pockets.

"If we owe it, we pay it," Goff said. "The problem is getting to be that a state agency has to pay it all when somebody else might be more at fault."

Goff told of a recent case in which MoDOT, due to a faded white line on the roadway, was found 5 percent at fault in an accident involving a drunken driver. However, the department was liable for the full damage award because it was the only remaining defendant left after other defendants settled.

The department wants lawmakers to limit a party's financial liability to its percentage of fault.

Goff said MoDOT supports, with some minor modifications, tort reform legislation similar to that vetoed by Gov. Bob Holden in July. Holden, a Democrat, has said he backs tort reform but that the Republican-sponsored bill was too expansive and would have arbitrarily limited damages for legitimate claims against businesses.

House Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said the fact that a state agency has joined the push for tort reform highlights the problem with civil litigation in Missouri.

"It is very significant that an organization such as MoDOT has come forward like many small businesses and said the tort system is broken and needs repair," Crowell said.

Although MoDOT is part of the executive branch, it is governed by the State Highways and Transportation Commission, an independent group that is free to stake out positions that may be contrary to those pursued by the governor.

In fiscal year 2001, MoDOT paid $3 million in damage awards. In FY 2003, it paid $8 million, and department officials expect the amount to continue to rise in the future.

As a government agency, sovereign immunity limits MoDOT's maximum liability to $321,000 per case. However, Goff said plaintiffs sometimes circumvent the cap by suing individual department employees instead of the agency itself. Even though MoDOT isn't technically a party in such cases, taxpayers still end up footing the bill.

The department wants a statutory change that would require aggrieved parties to sue government agencies rather than particular employees.

The commission on Tuesday endorsed adding tort reform, on which it took no official position this year, to the department's legislative agenda for the coming session of the Missouri Legislature.

MoDOT will continue urging lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot asking voters to grant the department the authority to build toll roads. It will also push for tougher seat belt and open container laws.

At present, state law only makes it illegal for drivers to drink alcohol in moving vehicles. Because Missouri hasn't expanded the ban to passengers, a portion of the federal highway funds it annually receives -- $24 million this year -- is shifted from road construction to safety programs.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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