Mary Bergen and John Bergen, Plaintiffs-Respondents v. Virginia Koppenal, Defendant-Respondent, and Wall Township…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division's judgment, holding that a municipality may have a duty to take over traffic control when its police learn of an emergent road condition that is unlikely to be observed by motorists and poses an unusual risk of injury. The Court emphasized that the municipality must act reasonably until the appropriate state authority can assume control, and it allowed juries to consider competing demands on police resources only if the police judgment was not palpably unreasonable.