Robert Kalmbach, Sr. v. James Hill

MEMORANDUM

Robert Kalmbach, the estates of May and Amanda Kalmbach, and other members of the Kalmbach family (“the Kalmbaehs”) appeal from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Oregon State Police (“OSP”) on their claims of negligence and negligent supervision. The district court found that the car accident caused by James Hill that killed May and Amanda Kalmbach was not a foreseeable result of the OSP’s decision to allow Hill to continue driving after a traffic stop for speeding in which the OSP learned that he had neither a valid license nor proof of insurance. The district court further found that the OSP officer’s deci sion not to impound Hill’s car was within the discretion afforded by the relevant OSP policy and would not have been affected by additional training. We affirm.

The Kalmbachs argue that a fatal accident was a foreseeable result of the decision not to impound Hill’s car, or at the very least that the question cannot be decided as a matter of law and without a jury. See Donaca v. Curry County, 303 Or. 30 , 734 P.2d 1339, 1344 (1987). Oregon law does not, however, permit recovery on a negligence theory when the intervening act of a third…