1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; providing for claims by 
  1.3             person incurring injury to person or property while 
  1.4             operating recreational vehicle on trunk highway 
  1.5             right-of-way; regulating highway closures; imposing 
  1.6             civil liability; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.7             section 160.27, by adding a subdivision; Minnesota 
  1.8             Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 3.736, subdivision 3.
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [TRUNK HIGHWAY CLOSURE FINDINGS.] 
  1.11     The legislature finds that an increasing tendency of some 
  1.12  persons to drive around barricades in order to travel on 
  1.13  restricted or closed highways increases the danger to the 
  1.14  traveling public; exposes highway workers, law enforcement 
  1.15  officers, and rescue personnel to unnecessary danger; increases 
  1.16  costs to clear the highways for travel; and imposes costs upon 
  1.17  highway users who must wait while stalled vehicles are removed 
  1.18  from the highway.  The criminal law is not always adequate to 
  1.19  deal with the problem and civil liability must be imposed as 
  1.20  provided in section 3. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 3.736, 
  1.22  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.23     Subd. 3.  [EXCLUSIONS.] Without intent to preclude the 
  1.24  courts from finding additional cases where the state and its 
  1.25  employees should not, in equity and good conscience, pay 
  1.26  compensation for personal injuries or property losses, the 
  1.27  legislature declares that the state and its employees are not 
  2.1   liable for the following losses: 
  2.2      (a) a loss caused by an act or omission of a state employee 
  2.3   exercising due care in the execution of a valid or invalid 
  2.4   statute or rule; 
  2.5      (b) a loss caused by the performance or failure to perform 
  2.6   a discretionary duty, whether or not the discretion is abused; 
  2.7      (c) a loss in connection with the assessment and collection 
  2.8   of taxes; 
  2.9      (d) a loss caused by snow or ice conditions on a highway or 
  2.10  public sidewalk that does not abut a publicly owned building or 
  2.11  a publicly owned parking lot, except when the condition is 
  2.12  affirmatively caused by the negligent acts of a state employee; 
  2.13     (e) a loss caused by wild animals in their natural state, 
  2.14  except as provided in section 3.7371; 
  2.15     (f) a loss other than injury to or loss of property or 
  2.16  personal injury or death; 
  2.17     (g) a loss caused by the condition of unimproved real 
  2.18  property owned by the state, which means land that the state has 
  2.19  not improved, state land that contains idled or abandoned mine 
  2.20  pits or shafts, and appurtenances, fixtures, and attachments to 
  2.21  land that the state has neither affixed nor improved; 
  2.22     (h) a loss involving or arising out of the use or operation 
  2.23  of a recreational motor vehicle, as defined in section 84.90, 
  2.24  subdivision 1, within the right-of-way of a trunk highway, as 
  2.25  defined in section 160.02; 
  2.26     (i) a loss incurred by a user arising from the 
  2.27  construction, operation, or maintenance of the outdoor 
  2.28  recreation system, as defined in section 86A.04, or for a loss 
  2.29  arising from the construction, operation, maintenance, or 
  2.30  administration of grants-in-aid trails as defined in section 
  2.31  85.018, or for a loss arising from the construction, operation, 
  2.32  or maintenance of a water access site created by the iron range 
  2.33  resources and rehabilitation board, except that the state is 
  2.34  liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages 
  2.35  against a private person.  For the purposes of this clause, a 
  2.36  water access site, as defined in section 86A.04 or created by 
  3.1   the iron range resources and rehabilitation board, that provides 
  3.2   access to an idled, water filled mine pit, also includes the 
  3.3   entire water filled area of the pit and, further, includes 
  3.4   losses caused by the caving or slumping of the mine pit walls; 
  3.5      (i) (j) a loss of benefits or compensation due under a 
  3.6   program of public assistance or public welfare, except if state 
  3.7   compensation for loss is expressly required by federal law in 
  3.8   order for the state to receive federal grants-in-aid; 
  3.9      (j) (k) a loss based on the failure of a person to meet the 
  3.10  standards needed for a license, permit, or other authorization 
  3.11  issued by the state or its agents; 
  3.12     (k) (l) a loss based on the usual care and treatment, or 
  3.13  lack of care and treatment, of a person at a state hospital or 
  3.14  state corrections facility where reasonable use of available 
  3.15  appropriations has been made to provide care; 
  3.16     (l) (m) loss, damage, or destruction of property of a 
  3.17  patient or inmate of a state institution; 
  3.18     (m) (n) a loss for which recovery is prohibited by section 
  3.19  169.121, subdivision 9; 
  3.20     (n) (o) a loss caused by an aeration, bubbler, water 
  3.21  circulation, or similar system used to increase dissolved oxygen 
  3.22  or maintain open water on the ice of public waters, that is 
  3.23  operated under a permit issued by the commissioner of natural 
  3.24  resources; 
  3.25     (o) (p) a loss incurred by a visitor to the Minnesota 
  3.26  zoological garden, except that the state is liable for conduct 
  3.27  that would entitle a trespasser to damages against a private 
  3.28  person; 
  3.29     (p) (q) a loss arising out of a person's use of a logging 
  3.30  road on public land that is maintained exclusively to provide 
  3.31  access to timber on that land by harvesters of the timber, and 
  3.32  is not signed or otherwise held out to the public as a public 
  3.33  highway; and 
  3.34     (q) (r) a loss incurred by a user of property owned, 
  3.35  leased, or otherwise controlled by the Minnesota National Guard 
  3.36  or the department of military affairs, except that the state is 
  4.1   liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages 
  4.2   against a private person. 
  4.3      The state will not pay punitive damages. 
  4.4      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 160.27, is 
  4.5   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.6      Subd. 7.  [TRUNK HIGHWAY CLOSURE; AUTHORITY, NOTICE, CIVIL 
  4.7   PENALTY.] (a) The commissioner may restrict the use of, or 
  4.8   close, any state trunk highway for the protection and safety of 
  4.9   the public or for the protection of the highway from damage 
  4.10  during storms if there is danger of the road becoming impassable 
  4.11  or if visibility is so limited that safe travel is unlikely. 
  4.12     (b) To notify the public that a trunk highway is closed or 
  4.13  its use restricted, the commissioner shall give notice by one or 
  4.14  more of the following methods: 
  4.15     (1) erect suitable barriers or obstructions on the highway; 
  4.16     (2) post warnings or notices of the closing or restricting 
  4.17  of a trunk highway; 
  4.18     (3) place signs to warn, detour, direct, or otherwise 
  4.19  control traffic on the highway; or 
  4.20     (4) place personnel to warn, detour, direct, or otherwise 
  4.21  control traffic on the highway. 
  4.22     (c) A person is civilly liable for rescue costs if the 
  4.23  person (1) fails to obey the direction or instruction of 
  4.24  authorized personnel, or (2) drives over, through, or around a 
  4.25  barricade, fence, or obstruction erected to prevent traffic from 
  4.26  passing over a portion of a highway closed to public travel.  
  4.27  "Civilly liable for rescue costs" means that the person is 
  4.28  liable to a state agency or political subdivision for costs 
  4.29  incurred for the purpose of rescuing the person, any passengers, 
  4.30  or the vehicle.  Civil liability may be imposed under this 
  4.31  subdivision in addition to the misdemeanor penalty imposed under 
  4.32  subdivision 5.  However, civil liability must not exceed 
  4.33  $10,000.  A fine paid by a defendant in a misdemeanor action 
  4.34  that arose from the same violation may not be applied toward 
  4.35  payment of the civil liability imposed under this subdivision. 
  4.36     (d) A state agency or political subdivision that incurs 
  5.1   costs as described in paragraph (c) may bring an action to 
  5.2   recover the civil liability and related legal, administrative, 
  5.3   and court costs.  A civil action may be commenced as is any 
  5.4   civil action.