Citerella v. United Illuminating Co.

• Decision Date: 23 December 1969
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Natalie M. CITERELLA v. The UNITED ILLUMINATING COMPANY.

Page 382

266 A.2d 382

158 Conn. 600

Natalie M. CITERELLA v. The UNITED ILLUMINATING COMPANY.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Dec. 23, 1969.

William L. Hadden, New Haven, with whom were Herman M. Levy, New Haven, and on the brief, John K. Knott, Jr., New Haven, for appellant (plaintiff).

William R. Murphy, New Haven, with whom was Michael J. Dorney, New Haven, for appellee (defendant).

Before KING, C.J., and ALCORN, HOUSE, COTTER and RYAN, JJ.

RYAN, Associate Justice.

This is a negligence action in which the plaintiff seeks to recover for electrical burns incurred when she alighted from her automobile on a public highway and came in contact with one of the defendant's power lines which had fallen during a storm and had become attached to her car. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant, and the plaintiff has appealed to this court.

In her complaint the plaintiff alleged that on September 12, 1960, at about 4 p.m. while operating her automobile on Silver Sands Road in the town of East Haven, her car was snagged by a fallen street light wire owned and controlled by the defendant; that as she attempted to leave her car she sustained electric shocks and burns from the electricity carried by the wire; that her injuries were caused by the negligence of the defendant in that it failed to inspect properly trees growing near its wires; that it failed to remove or reinforce branches of such trees when it knew or should have known that large tree branches were in a condition which would cause them to fall during a windstorm; that it failed to inspect properly the insulation of its live wires; that it permitted high-voltage wires to be near lower-voltage wires without properly insulating them and preventing such wires from coming together; that, when it knew or should have known that its wires were in a condition of disrepair, it failed to repair their insulation; that, after notice that the wire which injured the plaintiff had fallen, it failed to shut off the power in this wire or to safeguard it within a reasonable period of time; that, after knowledge of the approach of a windstorm, it failed to take prompt action for the protection of travelers on the highway; that, when it knew or should have known of the likelihood of branches falling in the vicinity of the present accident, it failed to warn travelers or to take any measures to protect them; that it did not observe the ordinary standards of care of a company engaged in the distribution of electricity; and that it failed to observe the standards of care of § 2.02, a regulation of the public utilities commission effective September 17, 1959. See Code of Electrical Standards and Specifications, P.U.C. Docket No. 9000.

The defendant denied the allegations of negligence and pleaded by way of special defense that the plaintiff was chargeable with contributory negligence in that she operated her car on the highways during a hurricane when she knew of should have known that the wind was causing tree limbs and utility wires to come down and when she knew or should have known that limbs and utility wires were down in the roadway on Silver Sands Road; that she failed to keep a proper lookout for downed wires and failed to exercise reasonable care to avoid them; and that she halted her vehicle and attempted to alight therefrom when she knew or should have known that this would expose her to danger of injury. In her reply the plaintiff denied the allegations of the special defense.

The plaintiff made the following claims of proof: On September 12, 1960, at about 4 p.m. the plaintiff was operating a car on Silver Sands Road near the intersection of Hill Street, in East Haven. Between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on that day, an energized wire maintained by the defendant was broken by a falling tree limb, and a part of that wire, still energized, was in the traveled portion of Silver Sands Road and came in contact with the plaintiff's car. The plaintiff stopped her car and attempted to alight, and when she did so she incurred severe burns caused by the wire. Prior to the fall of the limb and wire, an expert examination would have revealed that the limb was subject to breaking by a strong wind and if the limb broke and fell it was likely, because of its position, to break energized wires. At 2:15 p.m. or earlier the defendant was notified that the line was down in the area described, on Silver Sands Road, but it did nothing to remedy the condition. The storm which occurred on that day, although named 'Hurricane Donna,' never, in fact, reached hurricane proportions at the scene of the plaintiff's accident. The highest reported gusts in the area were from fifty-three to sixty-two miles per hour. Storms designated as 'hurricanes' were experienced in the area of the plaintiff's accident in 1938, 1944, 1954, and 1955.

The defendant claimed to have proved the following facts: In 1960, the defendant maintained 3769 miles of wire in its New Haven division and 4029 miles of wire or cable in its Bridgeport and Center divisions. In September, 1960, it had a written storm emergency plan including special equipment for communications during an emergency. It was aware of the approach of the storm prior to September 12, 1960 and reviewed its emergency plan, equipment and available personnel. It assigned duties to its employees in anticipation of its use of the plan and made other preparations to meet the emergency. On the morning of September 12, 1960, the defendant assigned to emergency storm duty its own line crews and tree crews of the New England Tree Expert Company, an independent contractor under contract to the defendant. On that day, in addition to its own line crews who were working double shifts, the defendant had additional contract crews from the Utility Line Construction Company who worked double shifts through the storm and during the evening. A report of 'wire down' or 'wire burning' could involve either a primary wire (4160 or 2400 volts) or a secondary wire (120 to 240 volts). It was not possible to determine from the telephoned reports whether a particular down wire was of high or low voltage, and dispatchers used their best judgment in assigning crews to the various jobs. Between 3 p.m. and 3:18 p.m. a limb fell on Silver Sands Road and caused primary, secondary and street light wires to break and fall to the street. This, in turn, caused two street light wires on nearby poles to break, one of which became energized by contact with a primary wire. The plaintiff, who lived near the intersection of Silver Sands Road and Hill Street, left her home about 3:30 p.m. and drove her car to a nearby grocery store but, upon finding the store closed, started back home and drove along Silver Sands Road toward the intersection of Hill Street. There were alternative routes by which the plaintiff could have reached her house. It was readily observable to the plaintiff that there were wires and a branch down in the street. The plaintiff stopped for a stop sign and, at that time, noticed a long wire attached to a loose chrome strip on the right side of her car. The plaintiff tried to disengage the wire by backing up and moving to the left, and she was aware at that time that there was a hazardous condition. Although she could have moved to the right side of the car to see if the wire was still on the car, she did not do so. The plaintiff assumed that the wire was off the car because she had pulled so far to the side that she believed she could get out of the car with safety. When she stepped on the roadway she suffered electrical burns. At about 4 p.m. the defendant was notified of the accident and immediately dispatched a crew to the scene. The defendant had no way of knowing from the information contained in the telephoned...