The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a judgment in favor of the City of Fairbank involving a snowmobile accident. Timothy Basquin hit a cable on a pedestrian bridge while on his snowmobile in Fairbank on January of 2010.
The cable smashed through the windshield of the snowmobile and seriously injured Basquin. He sued, saying the city willfully or maliciously failed to guard or warn the public of the dangerous cable. The district court issued a summary judgment dismissing the case before it went to trial, and Basquin appealed.
The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled the district court properly concluded there is insufficient evidence to show the city acted willfully or maliciously. The ruling says there is no record anyone had been injured by the cable before Basquin, or that Fairbank city employees otherwise knew the cable presented a hazard.