Dinelli v. County of Lake

691 N.E.2d 394, 294 Ill. App. 3d 876, 229 Ill. Dec. 284, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 87
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided February 20, 1998·No. 2-97-0288·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE GEIGER

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiffs, Frank Dinelli and Carol Dinelli, appeal from the February 19, 1997, order of the circuit court of Lake County dismissing their complaint against the defendant, County of Lake (the County). The complaint alleged that the County was negligent and willful and wanton in its design and maintenance of a midblock bicycle trail crosswalk. Plaintiff Frank Dinelli was struck and injured by a motor vehicle while walking his bicycle across the crosswalk. The trial court found that the crosswalk had been intended for recreational use and therefore concluded that the County was immune from liability pursuant to section 3 — 106 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (the Act) (745 ILCS 10/3 — 106 (West 1996)). The trial court also found that the plaintiffs’ allegations were insufficient to state a cause of action for willful and wanton conduct. We affirm.

In their second amended complaint, the plaintiffs allege that, on September 23, 1994, Frank Dinelli was riding his bicycle in an easterly direction along the North Shore Bicycle Path (NSBP) in Libertyville. The NSBP is a system of interconnected bicycle pathways in Lake County which utilizes abandoned railroad right-of-ways. In 1994, the NSBP included a midblock crosswalk across Butterfield Road, approximately 240 feet south of the intersection of Butterfield Road and Illinois Route 176. This crosswalk was allegedly designed and maintained by the County. Street signs at the crosswalk warn motorists on Butterfield Road where the NSBP crosses the road.

As the plaintiff attempted to walk his bicycle across the crosswalk, he was struck by a northbound vehicle being driven by Louise Rejc. According to witness Albert Stannard, at the time that the plaintiff attempted to cross the crosswalk, northbound traffic on Butterfield Road was stopped for a red light at the intersection of Illinois Route 176 and was backed up to a point south of the crosswalk. Stannard testified that the plaintiff entered the crosswalk and proceeded to cross Butterfield Road while the northbound traffic remained stopped. As the plaintiff was crossing the southbound lane, he was struck by Rejc’s vehicle. Rejc was allegedly traveling northbound in the southbound lane in order to more quickly reach the left-turn lane at the intersection with Illinois Route 176. As a result of the collision, the plaintiff suffered a broken hip, a broken pelvis, three fractured ribs, and other internal injuries requiring hospitalization for over six weeks.

Counts I and II of the plaintiffs’ second amended complaint alleged that the County was negligent in its design and maintenance of the NSBP’s midblock crosswalk on Butterfield Road. In counts III and IV, the plaintiffs alleged that the County’s conduct in designing and maintaining the crosswalk had been willful and wanton. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the County (1) failed to use traffic and pedestrian counts in deciding where to place the crosswalk; (2) located the crosswalk in a high volume area; (3) installed the crosswalk without the recommendation of the county engineer; and (4) failed to design or plan the crosswalk in accordance with guidelines set forth in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Controls. In counts I and III, Frank Dinelli sought relief for his personal injuries; in counts II and IV, Carol Dinelli sought relief for the loss of her husband’s services, society, companionship, and conjugal relationship.

On July 17, 1996, the County filed a motion for summary judgment as to counts I and II of the plaintiffs’ second amended complaint. In its motion, the County asserted that the crosswalk was part of the NSBP and intended for recreational use. As such, the County argued that it was immune from liability pursuant to section 3 — 106 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/3 — 106 (West 1996)). Attached to the motion was the affidavit of Martin Buehler, the county engineer for Lake County. In his affidavit, Buehler stated that the NSBP included the crosswalk across Butterfield Road. Buehler also averred that the NSBP, including the crosswalk, was intended and permitted to be used by the citizens of Lake County for recreational purposes.

On September 18, 1996, the trial court denied the County’s motion for summary judgment. On September 26, 1996, the County filed a motion requesting the trial court to reconsider its ruling. The County also filed a motion to dismiss counts III and TV of the second amended complaint on the ground that the allegations were insufficient to support an action for willful and wanton conduct. On October 23, 1996, the trial court granted the motion to reconsider and entered summary judgment on behalf of the County as to counts I and II. On the same date, the trial, court also granted the County’s motion to dismiss counts III and IV. In granting the motion to dismiss, the trial court gave the plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint.

On January 9, 1997, the trial court granted the plaintiffs leave to file a fourth amended complaint. Counts I and II contained the same negligence allegations that were the basis of the earlier motion for summary judgment. Counts III and IV again alleged willful and wanton conduct and contained the following additional allegations: (1) that the County encouraged pedestrians to use the midblock crosswalk without the use of active traffic control devices on a roadway where the average daily traffic volume exceeded 20,000; (2) that the County failed to exclusively utilize the pedestrian crosswalks with active traffic control devices at the intersection of Butterfield Road and Illinois Route 176; and (3) that the County failed to remove the crosswalk after becoming aware of another incident in which a user of the crosswalk was struck by a motorist on Butterfield Road.

On January 22, 1997, the County filed a motion to dismiss the fourth amended complaint. The County argued that counts I and II had already been ruled upon and were barred under the doctrine of res judicata. As to counts III and IV, the County again argued that the allegations were insufficient to demonstrate willful and wanton conduct.

On February 19, 1997, following a hearing, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs’ fourth amended complaint. Following the plaintiffs’ election to stand upon their fourth amended complaint, they filed a timely notice of appeal.

The plaintiffs’ first contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment on behalf of the County as to counts I and II. The plaintiffs argue that the County was not immunized under section 3 — 106 of the Act as the crosswalk was not intended' to be used “recreationally.” Rather, the plaintiffs argue that the crosswalk was intended as a traffic control device for the protection of pedestrians crossing Butterfield Road. As such, the plaintiffs conclude that the County owed them a duty of ordinary care in designing and maintaining the crosswalk.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Dinelli v. County of Lake, 691 N.E.2d 394, 294 Ill. App. 3d 876, 229 Ill. Dec. 284, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 87 (Ill. Ct. App. 1998).

691 N.E.2d 394 (Dinelli v. County of Lake) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Fennerty v. City of Chicago
2015 IL App (1st) 140679 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
Peters v. Herrin Community School District No. 4
928 N.E.2d 1258 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2010)
Floyd v. Rockford Park District
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005
Floyd Ex Rel. Floyd v. Rockford Park Dist.
823 N.E.2d 1004 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005)
Rexroad v. City of Springfield Map in appendix added - Aug. 1, 2002
331 Ill. App. 3d 545 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
Rexroad v. City of Springfield
772 N.E.2d 821 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
A.D. v. Forest Preserve District
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2000
AD Ex Rel. JD v. FOREST PRESERVE DIST. OF KANE CTY.
731 N.E.2d 955 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2000)
Jackson Ex Rel. Essien v. Unified School District 259
995 P.2d 844 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2000)
Wallace v. Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
302 Ill. App. 3d 573 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)
Wallace v. Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Auth.
707 N.E.2d 140 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)
Dinelli v. County of Lake
691 N.E.2d 394 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)