Court summarily dismisses claim that collision death was caused by restaurant patrons gathered at interection corner, blocking view

Gusty Dirette was killed when his motorcycle struck a car at the intersection of M-55 and Clearwater Road in Roscommon County.  The motorist claimed that he pulled out in front of Dirette because he couldn't see Dirette's bike approach due to the sight distance at the intersection being blocked.  He claimed that a crowd of patrons gathered at the Dairy Queen on the corner of the intersection blocked the view of motorists approaching the highway or attempting to turn out on to the highway and prevented him from moving for more than 15 minutes.  Dirette's family joined the Dairy Queen in its wrongful death claim. 

The Court held that even though the location of the Dairy Queen caused customers to block the view of motorists at the intersection, the location was not a "public nuisance" and the Dairy Queen owed no duty to motorists or bikers.   The presence of the customers "merely required the motorists to yield or to wait" and according to the Court, that is not an unreasonable intereference with the safety of the public--no matter how long it may continue.