Facts
On February 5, 1967, Jean-Yves Zufferey was driving a borrowed car from Vercorin to Chalais. The road was covered with a layer of ice, on which traffic had formed ruts 7 to 10 cm deep and 15 to 20 cm wide. When Zufferey tried to avoid an oncoming car, his vehicle left the ruts, crossed the evasion area, and plunged down a steep embankment. Zufferey was seriously injured in the process.
Zufferey filed a lawsuit against the Canton of Valais as the owner of the road under Art. 58 CO. He claimed a design defect (lack of safety barriers) and a maintenance defect (insufficient gritting).
The Cantonal Court of Valais dismissed the claim, as neither a design defect nor a maintenance defect existed, and the accident was solely attributable to the driver's misconduct.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Cantonal Court. It stated that on mountain roads, safety barriers are only to be installed at locations where there is a real risk of accidents. In the present case, where the road was straight and the visibility was good, there was no such danger, so the lack of barriers did not constitute a design defect.
The edge markings of the road serve only to delineate the roadway, not to stop vehicles that have left the road. Their design was in line with the usual conditions on mountain roads.
Regarding maintenance, the Federal Supreme Court stated that on mountain roads in winter, ruts in hard snow are to be expected, and the driver must adapt their driving accordingly. The measures taken by…