French v. City of Springfield

• Decision Date: 01 October 1976
• Docket Number: No. 47904,47904
• Citation: French v. City of Springfield, 65 Ill.2d 74, 357 N.E.2d 438, 2 Ill.Dec. 271 (Ill. 1976)
• Parties: , 2 Ill.Dec. 271 Donna FRENCH, Appellee, v. The CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, Appellant, et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 438

357 N.E.2d 438

65 Ill.2d 74, 2 Ill.Dec. 271

Donna FRENCH, Appellee, v. The CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, Appellant, et al.

No. 47904.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 1, 1976.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 2, 1976.

D. Bradley Blodgett, Corp. Counsel, and W. J. Simhauser, Springfield, for appellant.

Thomas F. Londrigan, of Londrigan & Potter P.C., Springfield, for appellee.

KLUCZYNSKI, Justice.

Plaintiff, Donna French, filed a complaint January 6, 1970, against the City of Springfield (hereinafter the City) for serious and extensive injuries she had sustained when the automobile in which she was riding as a passenger collided with a utility pole. At the trial on this complaint, judgment was entered on a jury verdict for the City. On appeal, the appellate court reversed and remanded the cause for a new trial. (French v. City of Springfield, 5 Ill.App.3d 368, 283 N.E.2d 18.) After remand, this cause was consolidated with an action that plaintiff had filed on January 9, 1971, against the estate of the deceased driver of the automobile and General Motors Corporation (hereinafter GM), the manufacturer and retailer of the automobile.

Prior to the second trial, GM was dismissed on plaintiff's motion pursuant to a covenant not to sue. At this trial, the jury found for the defendant estate against plaintiff but found in favor of plaintiff against the City and awarded her damages of $500,000. Judgments were entered on the verdicts. In its appeal to the appellate court the City raised several issues. The two major contentions were: (1) that the City's violation of its own ordinance, which required a permit to be issued before barricades could be stationed on the street, could not be found to be the proximate cause of the collision and that admitting into evidence proof of such violation constituted reversible error; and (2) that a posed motion picture shown to the jury, which depicted the area where the collision occurred, was improperly admitted. The appellate court upheld the trial court's judgment on the basis that the jury could have found the violation of the ordinance to have been a proximate cause of the collision and the trial court was not in error by admitting evidence of the violation; and that the differences in conditions between the time of filming the movie and the time of the occurrence were insufficient to hold that the admission of the movie was reversible error. (French v. City of Springfield, 30 Ill.App.3d 584, 334 Ill.App.3d 584.) We allowed the City's petition for leave to appeal in which it raises the two primary contentions it brought before the appellate court.

The accident occurred on a one-way south-bound street at 2 a.m. in the City of Springfield. On this street, which has three 12-foot lanes and an 8-foot parking lane on each side, the City commenced repair work 5 days prior to the accident. The barricades that surrounded this construction obstructed most of the left lane and extended westward to within 3 1/2 feet of the center lane. A railroad trestle passes over the street 530 feet north of these barricades. Approximately 400 feet north of the center of this trestle, the street begins a gradual descent until it is 14 feet below the normal grade of the street and ascends until it levels off 400 feet south of the center of the trestle. In the underpass the street narrows on both sides eliminating the parking area and leaving the width of the three moving lanes intact. The utility pole against which the car collided is 170 feet south of the barricades on the west curb. Testimony revealed that at the time of the accident the driver was traveling south at a high rate of speed, went under the trestle, changed lanes, skidded and rammed into the utility pole. Further testimony showed that the road was covered with frost.

The following city ordinance was effective at the time of the accident:

'Section 40.10. Contractors, et al., obstructing streets, etc.

No contractor, builder or other person shall encumber or obstruct any street, alley, or sidewalk or portion thereof in the City with barricades, parking meter covers, temporary structures, tool sheds, office or tool trailers or shanties, building materials, or any other foreign material which may impede or obstruct traffic or public use of a public way unless such contractor, builder or other person shall have filed with the City Clerk an application setting forth, among other things, the purpose, the period and extent of the use desired to be made of the public way and shall have obtained a permit signed by the City Clerk and properly endorsed by both the Superintendent of Streets and the Traffic Engineer, and shall have paid the proper fees. Should the permit also authorize blockade of curb parking, the permittee shall obtain from the Traffic Engineer appropriate materials to mount on the parking meters giving notice to the public that such meters have been taken out of service and stating the duration thereof.

This section shall not apply during emergency situations involving health or safety. In such cases representatives of public utilities, the Street Department, City Water Light and Power Department or any bonded contractor authorized by the Street Department may proceed to correct the emergency situation: but in such case, all persons, including city employees, shall give notice to the Police Department, Fire Department and Department of Streets and Public Improvements of the City prior to making such obstruction, which notice shall specify the location and purpose thereof, and all persons including city employees shall thereafter, on the next business day, comply with the provisions of sections 40.10, 40.10.1, 40.10.2, 40.16, 40.17, 40.19 and such other provisions of this code as may be applicable.

The City failed to file such an application with the city clerk and consequently it did not receive a valid permit. This permit was to be signed by the clerk and endorsed by both the superintendent of streets and the traffic engineer. The engineer testified that his job was to examine plans for placement of barricades and warning signs before approving the permit. This practice was corroborated by the permit form which contains the following language: 'Work to be performed according to instructions and under the supervision of the Department of Streets and Public Improvements. Barricades, flashing lights, lanterns, channelizing devices and warning signs must be installed as specified by the Traffic Manager (Engineer).' The engineer also stated that he would not have approved the placement of the barricades and warning devices in the position they had been stationed at the time of the accident. Rather, he would have channelized the traffic gradually away from the far left lane so that traffic could bypass the construction area.

The City claims that the appellate court erred in affirming the trial court's action in admitting evidence of the ordinance violation and by instructing the jury that the violation be considered negligence. The City bases this contention on the theory that violation of this ordinance did not proximately cause plaintiff...