Chevrie v. Gruesen

567 N.E.2d 629, 208 Ill. App. 3d 881, 153 Ill. Dec. 671
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided February 13, 1991·No. 2-90-0270·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

567 N.E.2d 629 (1991)
208 Ill. App.3d 881
153 Ill.Dec. 671

Diane CHEVRIE, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Frank GRUESEN, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 2-90-0270.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

February 13, 1991.

*630 Ken Klimczak, Michael R. Panter & Associates, Michael D. Richman, Chicago, for Diane Chevrie.

James F. Best, Sarah E. Chapin, Fraterrigo, Best & Beranek, Chicago, for Frank Gruesen.

Justice NICKELS delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Diane Chevrie, appeals from an order of the trial court granting defendant's, Frank Gruesen's, motion for summary judgment. We reverse and remand for trial on the merits.

Plaintiff brought suit against defendant seeking damages for personal injuries she sustained as a result of the collision of her car with several vehicles, including ultimately that of defendant. At the time of the initial collision, plaintiff was traveling east in the curb lane of Butterfield Road in Lombard, Illinois. Butterfield Road is a six-lane highway with three lanes of traffic each going east and west and further divided by a very wide, eight-inch-high median strip. Plaintiff's car was struck on the rear passenger side by a car exiting a driveway on the south side of Butterfield Road. The driver of that car is not a party to this action. The impact caused plaintiff's car to spin across the three eastbound lanes of traffic, continue over the median, and enter the westbound lanes. At the time plaintiff's car entered the westbound lanes it was moving north, perpendicular to traffic, and backwards.

Upon entering the westbound lanes, plaintiff's car struck the driver's side rear of Jeanette Konkol's (n/k/a Lambrigger) car traveling in the median lane, although Lambrigger had accelerated and swerved to avoid plaintiff's car. The impact did not stop plaintiff's car but did cause it to veer slightly east as it continued across the westbound lanes. A car driven by Nancy Larson, immediately behind Lambrigger's car in the westbound median lane, successfully braked and avoided impact with plaintiff's car. Defendant was also traveling westbound, behind Lambrigger's and Larson's cars. Although conflicting testimony placed defendant's car in either the curb, middle, or median lane, he collided with plaintiff's car in the middle westbound lane, with the left front of defendant's car impacting the driver's side door of plaintiff's car.

Plaintiff alleged that defendant negligently failed to keep a proper lookout and was traveling too fast for conditions. Defendant asserted that the collision between his car and that of plaintiff was unavoidable and, therefore, that his conduct was not the proximate cause of the collision.

A motion for summary judgment should only be granted if the pleadings, depositions, admissions and affidavits demonstrate that there exists no issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 110, par. 2-1005.) Summary judgment is a drastic means of disposing of litigation and should be granted only if the right of the movant to judgment is clear and free from doubt. (Purtill v. Hess (1986), 111 Ill.2d 229, 240, 95 Ill.Dec. 305, 489 N.E.2d 867; Turner v. Roesner (1990), 193 Ill.App.3d 482, 487, 140 Ill.Dec. 415, 549 N.E.2d 1287.) In determining if a question of material fact exists, a court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant and against the moving party. (Turner, 193 Ill.App.3d at 487, 140 Ill.Dec. 415, 549 N.E.2d 1287; Santschi v. Gorter (1978), 63 Ill.App.3d 394, 396, 20 Ill.Dec. 315, 379 N.E.2d 1383; Dakovitz v. Arrow Road Construction Co. (1975), 26 Ill.App.3d 56, 324 N.E.2d 444.) Only evidentiary facts and not mere conclusions of law should be considered. (Rutter v. Gemmer (1987), 153 *631 Ill.App.3d 586, 591, 106 Ill.Dec. 517, 505 N.E.2d 1308; Bielarczyk v. Happy Press Lounge, Inc. (1980), 91 Ill.App.3d 577, 581, 47 Ill.Dec. 45, 414 N.E.2d 1161.) If the facts are not in dispute, inferences may be drawn from undisputed facts to determine if the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law (Turner, 193 Ill.App.3d at 487, 140 Ill.Dec. 415, 549 N.E.2d 1287; Estate of Dompke v. Dompke (1989), 186 Ill.App.3d 930, 933, 134 Ill.Dec. 715, 542 N.E.2d 1222), and if fair-minded persons could draw different inferences from those facts then a triable issue exists (Santschi, 63 Ill.App.3d at 396, 20 Ill.Dec. 315, 379 N.E.2d 1383; Ruby v. Wayman (1968), 99 Ill.App.2d 146, 240 N.E.2d 699).

Although not well articulated by either plaintiff or defendant, two issues are before us on appeal: first, whether the facts presented on defendant's motion for summary judgment and plaintiff's response thereto raised a material question of fact as to defendant's breach of his duty to maintain a proper lookout and observe a speed appropriate for conditions and, second, assuming defendant's breach of duty, did the facts further raise a question of proximate causation?

The driver of a vehicle has the duty to maintain a proper lookout for other cars traveling on the road. (Grass v. Hill (1981), 94 Ill.App.3d 709, 714-15, 50 Ill.Dec. 139, 418 N.E.2d 1133.) This duty applies even though the other car is traveling on the wrong side of the road. (E.g., Turner v. Roesner (1990), 193 Ill.App.3d 482, 488, 140 Ill.Dec. 415, 549 N.E.2d 1287.) So, too, a driver has the duty to reduce the speed of his vehicle to avoid collisions. (Ill.Rev.Stat. 1989, ch. 95½, par. 11-601(a); Toney v. Mazariegos (1988), 166 Ill.App.3d 399, 403, 116 Ill.Dec. 820, 519 N.E.2d 1035.) Both the question of a proper lookout and of speed appropriate to conditions are generally questions for the jury to decide. Toney, 166 Ill.App.3d at 403, 116 Ill.Dec. 820, 519 N.E.2d 1035.

Two cases have considered the question of evidence of improper lookout that is sufficient to create a factual question requiring the jury's determination. In Santschi (63 Ill.App.3d 394, 20 Ill.Dec. 315, 379 N.E.2d 1383), on a two-lane road without a median, the plaintiff swerved into the defendant's lane to avoid a car in the plaintiff's lane.

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Chevrie v. Gruesen, 567 N.E.2d 629, 208 Ill. App. 3d 881, 153 Ill. Dec. 671 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

567 N.E.2d 629 (Chevrie v. Gruesen) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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