July 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 25

it appears to be. Further, those using
the premises must act reasonably using ordinary care to protect themselves
and discover obvious dangers. (See
" Landowner Duty: Assure Premises
No More Dangerous than It Appears
to Be, " http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/jkozlows/lawarts/02FEB96.pdf.)
As illustrated by a review of reported
court opinions and the case described
herein, negligence liability should be the
exception rather than the rule. The case
described below involved injuries sustained during a ride on a mountain-bike
trail in a city park.
A number of YouTube videos allow
a virtual ride experience on this challenging mountain bike trail, certainly
more risky than a sedentary " walk in
the park " (See Town Run Trail Park,
Indianapolis,
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=c45I8KCGgQ0.)
Trail Difficulty Obvious?
In the case of Hoosier Mountain Bike Association, Inc. v. Kaler, 2017 Ind. App. LEXIS 133 (3/23/2017), plaintiff Richard
Kaler sustained injuries while riding on
a mountain bike trail in Town Run Trail
Park, owned and operated by the city
of Indianapolis through Indy Parks and
Recreation. The Hoosier Mountain Bike
Association, Inc. (HMBA) was responsible for maintaining the trails, which have
a difficulty rating from beginner through
intermediate. (See " Town Run Trail
Park, " www.visitindy.com/indianapolis-town-run-trail-park).
In the spring of 2011, an Eagle Scout,
as part of his merit badge project, built
a new technical trail feature along Town
Run's mountain-bike trail. The feature
can best be described as a banked wooden turn, also known as a berm. A rider,
approaching the berm, has three options
for completing the turn: (1) riders can
avoid the berm by staying on the dirt
path on its left side, (2) riders can elect

to enter the berm and ride it on the low
grade, or (3) riders can negotiate the
turn by riding the berm's more challenging high grade.

feature. As he approached the end of the
turn, Kaler could see " there was a drop, "
so he " pulled up on the fork and did a
little bunny hop. "

...landowners are generally not liable for negligence when
recreational injuries result from conditions on the land that
are as obvious to the visitor...or should have been observed
by the visitor in exercise of reasonable care.
The entrance onto the wooden turn
is fully tapered with the ground, while
the exit is only partially tapered. A rider choosing the low grade would exit the
berm with a " little jump " off the end of
the feature. A rider exiting on the high
grade would have to make a two-foot
jump back down to the trail.
On July 9, 2011, Kaler and his girlfriend took their first trip on the trail.
The mountain bike trail is shaped as a
" figure 8, " with an approximate length
of 6 miles. When he first approached the
berm, Kaler " took the low grade " on the

On their second trip around the course,
Kaler's girlfriend decided to take a shorter loop back to the trailhead. She was
not as " adventurous " as Kaler, and was
concerned about getting back to the trailhead before dusk. Despite the approaching darkness, Kaler " wanted to ride the
higher grade because he knew it was
more challenging. "
Kaler reached the berm again around
9:30 p.m. Feeling " capable of riding
that high line, " he sped up and rode the
berm " as high as he could possibly ride
it with his skill set. " As he was near the

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