Myers v. Hanneman (In re Estate of Case)
| Decision Date | 02 August 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 2–15–1147.,2–15–1147. |
| Citation | 405 Ill.Dec. 882,59 N.E.3d 175 |
| Parties | In re ESTATE OF Barbara A. CASE, Deceased (Jamie M. Myers, as Administrator of the Estate and Personal Representative of Barbara A. Case, Deceased, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Johnny R. Hanneman, Alan Gorzlancyk Enterprises, Inc., and JMB Express, LLC, Defendants–Appellees). |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
William T. Cacciatore and Eileen J. McCabe, both of Cacciatore Law Offices, of Rockford, for appellant.
J. Daniel Porter and Stacy K. Shelly, both of Langhenry, Gillen, Lundquist & Johnson, LLC, of Rockford, for appellees.
delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
¶ 1 Plaintiff, Jamie M. Myers, as administrator of the estate and personal representative of the deceased, Barbara A. Case, appeals the judgment of the circuit court of Winnebago County granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, Johnny Hanneman, Alan Gorzlancyk Enterprises, Inc. (Gorzlancyk), and JMB Express, LLC (JMB), on the ground that plaintiff had not presented any evidence of Hanneman's negligence in operating the semi-tractor and trailer combination that collided with Case's vehicle. On appeal, plaintiff argues that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Hanneman was negligent. We affirm.
¶ 3 We begin by summarizing the pertinent undisputed facts in the record. Illinois Route 2 is a north-south highway. At the intersection with Roscoe Road, Route 2 is a two-lane road, with one northbound lane and one southbound lane. Route 2 has a 55–mile–per–hour speed limit around the Roscoe Road intersection. About 500 feet north of the intersection, the roadway dips and then rises. Likewise, about 600 feet south of the intersection, the roadway again dips and rises. For the approximately 1,100 feet near the intersection, the roadway is flat and level, and, on a clear day, vehicles would be visible throughout that distance. Farther north, perhaps a mile, southbound Route 2 narrows from two lanes to one. Finally, Roscoe Road, both eastbound and westbound, has stop signs at the intersection with Route 2; Route 2 is unimpeded and deemed the preferential road at the intersection.
¶ 4 On December 6, 2011, the weather was overcast but otherwise clear. The roadway was dry, and there were no weather or atmospheric conditions interfering with a driver's visibility around the intersection of Route 2 and Roscoe Road.
¶ 5 Also on December 6, 2011, Hanneman was driving a tractor-trailer for his employer, Gorzlancyk. The truck appears to have been owned by JMB and leased to Gorzlancyk. Gorzlancyk was in the business of recycling, refurbishing, and producing wood pallets. Hanneman had worked for Gorzlancyk for about 23 years, and he had driven trucks for Gorzlancyk for about 20 years. During the 10 years preceding the accident, Hanneman had driven along northbound Route 2 many times, and he estimated that he used the road as frequently as five times in a month. On that day, Hanneman had picked up a load of broken pallets from the Carson Pirie Scott Distribution Center in Rockford, and he was transporting the load to Gorzlancyk in Plover, Wisconsin.
¶ 6 Terry Gross, a vice president with Gorzlancyk, testified in his deposition that the empty tractor-trailer that Hanneman was driving weighed about 35,000 pounds. Gross testified that Hanneman received a full load of 500 broken pallets from the Carson's distribution center. Gross estimated that each pallet weighed about 25 pounds. Gross also estimated that the loaded tractor-trailer weighed about 60,000 pounds, well below its maximum weight of 80,000 pounds. Hanneman testified that, when his tractor-trailer was carrying a load, it would take him about 500 feet to come to a controlled stop from a speed of 55 miles per hour.
¶ 7 At about 11:52 a.m., on December 6, 2011, Hanneman was driving the tractor-trailer north on Route 2, approaching the intersection with Roscoe Road. He testified in his deposition that he had been traveling on Route 2 for about 30 minutes when he approached the intersection. Hanneman testified that his truck was limited by a governor to a maximum speed of 67 miles per hour. Hanneman testified that, at the relevant times, he was traveling at 55 miles per hour and was maintaining that speed as he approached the intersection. Hanneman testified that he had been behind a white van for some time. As he approached the intersection, the white van went into the dip to the north of Roscoe Road, and Hanneman lost sight of it. Hanneman specifically testified that, although the intersection is at the crest of a rise—with dips both to the north and the south of the intersection—he could see the entire roadway as he approached the intersection from the south.
¶ 8 Hanneman testified that he was about to enter the intersection of Route 2 and Roscoe Road when he first saw Case attempting to turn left in front of him. Hanneman estimated that he might have been less than 50 feet from the intersection when he saw Case's Dodge Stratus entering the intersection from the north to make a left turn and proceed east on Roscoe Road. Hanneman testified that he slammed on his brakes and turned slightly to the right. The front of Hanneman's truck struck the passenger side of Case's vehicle. Upon the impact, the two vehicles became stuck together. Hanneman's truck continued off the roadway, pushing Case's vehicle in front of it. The two vehicles proceeded through a bordering ditch and into an adjacent cornfield to the northeast of the intersection.
¶ 9 Hanneman testified that Case did not enter Roscoe Road before the collision. He also testified that the collision took place entirely within the northbound lane of Route 2. Hanneman further testified that his truck never entered the southbound lane of Route 2; rather he consciously made the choice to steer to the right when he saw Case's vehicle entering his lane. Finally, Hanneman testified that he did not believe that there was anything he could have done to avoid the collision.
¶ 10 Deputy Michael Pearson of the Winnebago County sheriff's police testified that he was the department's accident reconstructionist. He observed a tire yaw mark laid down by Case's vehicle as it turned to the left. Pearson testified that Case took the turn too quickly and abruptly, causing so much stress on the tire that the sidewall marked the pavement. Pearson also recorded about 55 feet of precollision marks left by Hanneman's truck. Finally, Pearson determined that the truck and the car came to rest in the cornfield some 200 feet from the impact on the roadway.
¶ 11 Two witnesses who had been behind Case at the moment of the collision also testified. Donna Zarabia testified that she was driving her daughter, Jazmin Sarabia, to court. Sarabia had to resolve a traffic ticket that she received for having too many people in the car when she was a new driver. Zarabia testified that she was driving in the inner, or left, lane of southbound Route 2. As she approached the narrowing of Route 2 into single lanes, Case passed her on the right, in the outer southbound lane, before the lane disappeared. Zarabia remarked to Sarabia that Case was driving and passing too fast. Zarabia was trying to make a point to her daughter about younger drivers. Sarabia observed that Case was approximately Zarabia's age. Zarabia testified that this surprised her, because she associated Case's excessive speed with a younger driver. Zarabia also admitted that she was driving at about 60 miles per hour as she approached the point where Route 2 narrowed.
¶ 12 Zarabia testified that, after Case passed her, she maintained a constant distance behind Case. As they approached the intersection, Zarabia knew that Case was going to turn left, even though she did not recall seeing Case's brake or signal lights. Zarabia testified that Case's vehicle did not come to a stop before beginning the turn. As the vehicle began the turn, Zarabia became aware of Hanneman's truck. As soon as she registered the truck, the two vehicles collided. Zarabia noted that she heard squealing tires from the truck for a couple of seconds before the collision. Zarabia testified that she was driving past the two vehicles as they hit gravel, presumably on the shoulder of the roadway, and that Case's car sprayed gravel onto Zarabia's car as Zarabia passed the scene.
¶ 13 Zarabia testified that she immediately pulled to the side of the road and that she and her daughter exited and proceeded to the site of the accident. Zarabia testified that she approached Hanneman to see if he was injured. Hanneman said that Case's car had pulled in front of him, and Zarabia comforted Hanneman, telling him that she had seen what had happened.
¶ 14 Sarabia testified that, on December 6, 2011, shortly before noon, she was riding in the passenger seat of Zarabia's car as they were going to the courthouse in Rockford to resolve a traffic ticket. Sarabia repeated some of the facts about Route 2 that Zarabia had testified about. Sarabia noted that, about a mile north of the intersection, where Route 2 narrows, Case's car passed theirs on the inside lane. Sarabia observed that Case was around her mother's age. She recalled this because Zarabia started to hold forth about younger drivers until Sarabia pointed out that Case was actually an older driver. Case stayed in front of them as they approached the intersection of Route 2 and Roscoe Road.
¶ 15 Sarabia testified that, as they approached the intersection, she observed Case's brake lights go on for “like a second” and then go off. When Case's vehicle was very close to the intersection, Sarabia observed the left turn signal flash once or twice. Case did not come to a stop; instead, she slowed and began to turn left. Sarabia testified that, as soon as Case crossed the centerline of the roadway to begin her turn, she was immediately struck by Hanneman's truck.
¶ 16 Both Zarabia and Sarabia testified that they could...
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