EAGAN, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in November 2019.
Almost four years after an Eagan teen was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding his bike on the way to school, a ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals could end his family’s efforts to sue the county, city and school district in the boy’s death.
Thirteen-year-old Patric Vitek died in November 2019 while crossing Diffley Road. One year later, his father Brian filed a lawsuit against Dakota County, the city of Eagan, and the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district claiming they "negligently failed to reduce the speed limit or post warning signs on the road."
However, in a ruling issued Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected the idea that those three parties could be held liable.
In court documents released Monday, the Court of Appeals said neither the city of Eagan nor the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools District had the authority to independently implement a change in school-zone speed limits at the time of Vitek’s death.
The court said both "law and fact" support its decision that neither the city nor district "owed the boy a duty" and that the "county is entitled to vicarious official immunity" because it "engaged in discretionary decision-making without evidence of malice."
The Court of Appeals ruled all three defendants were entitled to a summary judgment, reversing a decision by a lower court.
Concerns about safety along Diffley Road had been expressed years before the fatal November 2019 crash. The 33-year-old driver told investigators they were driving east on Diffley Road in the center lane when they struck the rear tire of Patric's bicycle. The busy four-lane road had a posted speed limit of 45 mph at the time, making pedestrian access to the three schools located along the highway a long-standing safety concern.
Following Patric's death, the community upped its efforts to improve safety along the corridor. In 2021, a $5 million reconstruction project was completed, dropping Diffley Road to one lane near the school zone, adding roundabouts and implementing new pedestrian lights at crosswalks.
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