Hanson v. Union Electric Co.

963 S.W.2d 2, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 59, 1998 WL 7443
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 13, 1998
DocketNo. 72511
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 963 S.W.2d 2 (Hanson v. Union Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanson v. Union Electric Co., 963 S.W.2d 2, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 59, 1998 WL 7443 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

PUDLOWSKI, Judge.

Bill R. Hanson and Bonnie J. Hanson (Hanson) appeal from the judgment of the Circuit Court of the City of Saint Louis granting summary judgment to respondents, Union Electric Company (Union Electric) and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWBT). Hanson instituted the action to recover damages for a fire resulting from an accident where a car hit a telephone pole which caused an uninsulated wire to come in contact with their house. We reverse.

When reviewing the grant of a summary judgment motion, we review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was entered. ITT Commercial Finance v. Mid-America Marine, 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). Summary judgment moves the parties beyond the allegations of the petition and seeks to determine if a material fact exists for trial. Martin v. City of Washington, 848 S.W.2d 487, 491 (Mo. banc 1993). The grant of summary judgment is a question of law and, therefore, we review using the same criteria as imposed by the trial court in its initial determination of the propriety of the motion. ITT Commercial Finance, 854 S.W.2d at 376.

When there is ho genuine issue as to any material fact, summary judgment is granted to the moving party as a matter of law. Rule 74.04(c)(3). The burden of establishing a right to judgment as a matter of law rests with the moving party and any evidence which demonstrates a genuine issue of material fact will defeat the moving party’s prima facie showing. Landes v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, 907 S.W.2d 349, 353 (Mo.App. W.D.1995). An issue is genuine only if it is real and substantial; it may not consist “of conjecture, theory and possibilities.” ITT Commercial Finance, 854 S.W.2d at 378.

Once the moving party makes a prima facie showing for its summary judgment motion, the responding party must reply with specific facts showing a genuine issue of material fact exists for trial or demonstrate that judgment as a matter of law is incorrect. Rule 74.04(e). The non-moving party’s only recourse is to show there is a genuine dispute of material fact by offering affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or admissions. ITT Commercial Finance, 854 S.W.2d at 381.

The facts viewed in the light most favorable to Hanson are as follows:

The road on which the Hanson home is located has a bend in it. Tangential to that bend, and in the Hanson’s front yard, SWBT located a telephone pole. The pole was maintained by SWBT and carried telephone wires. Additionally, Union Electric maintained -a 7200 volt uninsulated wire on the telephone pole, but it does not routinely inspect this wire.

The pole sits approximately 71 inches from the road. There are two guy wires supporting it. The location of this telephone pole [5]*5has a history of telephone poles being hit by drivers who fail to properly negotiate the curve of the road. The pole was hit on at least three prior occasions within the past eighteen years. It was replaced in 1983 after it was knocked down. Hanson alleged he told a SWBT employee that the pole needed to be moved after the second time it was knocked down because of its dangerous location. Following another accident, Hanson called Union Electric to have them turn off the electricity running in the line so that a driver could be safely extricated from his vehicle after hitting the pole.

On 22 June 1991, an intoxicated driver veered off of the road into the front of Hanson’s property. As the driver left the paved portion of the road, he hit one of the telephone pole’s guy wires causing the pole, and the wires it carried, to fall. The pole and the uninsulated conductors fell across Hanson’s dusk-to-dawn light which sent an electrical surge into the house. Consequentially, multiple fires ignited and burned down the house.

Hanson instituted this action seeking remuneration for the damage to his home. Union Electric and SWBT filed separate motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted both motions, ruling that neither Union Electric nor SWBT owed a duty to Hanson to isolate or insulate the power line or locate the utility pole differently. From this judgment, Hanson appeals.

Union Electric and SWBT rely on a series of cases which deny recovery to drivers and passengers of cars who drive off the traveled portion of the road and strike utility poles. As announced in Clinkenbeard v. City of St. Joseph, 321 Mo. 71, 10 S.W.2d 54 (1928), in these limited circumstances utilities do not owe a duty of care to the passengers of the car when the utility pole is lawfully placed off the road. However, their duty of care is abrogated only in limited circumstances where vehicles collide with the utility pole and suit is brought by the driver or a passenger; Clinkenbeard does not grant utilities complete immunity. In other circumstances, as in the instant case, the utilities must meet their duty of care to the general public.

Hanson contends that both Union Electric and SWBT have an established duty because each was on notice from at least three prior accidents of the potential hazard and they, rather than the car’s driver, are liable for the damages caused. In Missouri, it is well established that a suppler of electricity is not an insurer of everyone’s safety. Merrick v. Southwest Electric Co-op. 815 S.W.2d 118, 120 (Mo.App. S.D.1991); Mrad v. Missouri Edison Co. 649 S.W.2d 936, 940 (Mo.App. E.D.1983). However, the supplier is required to exercise the highest degree of care in order to prevent any injury it may anticipate. Id.

An electric supplier may satisfy this duty of care by isolating or insulating the electrical wires. Mrad, 649 S.W.2d at 941. If the supplier fails to insulate the wires, the inquiry turns to whether the wires were adequately isolated. In the instant case, Union Electric failed to insulate the wire, so it needed to adequately isolate the wire. Union Electric asserts that its wires were sufficiently isolated because they maintained the wires at or above the minimum clearances required by the National Electrical Safety Code. However, merely meeting or surpassing the minimum requirements of the National Electrical Safety Code does not negate a supplier’s duty. Foote v. Scotty-New Madrid-Mississippi Electric Co-op., 359 S.W.2d 40, 41 (Mo.App.1962).

In order to meet the duty to isolate, Union Electric must locate the wire so that it would not injure persons where it might reasonably expect them to be. Mrad, 649 S.W.2d at 941. If the wires are isolated, then there is not an unreasonable risk to those individuals who are lawfully near the power lines. Goddard v. St. Joseph Light and Power Company, 379 S.W.2d 565, 567 (Mo.1964).

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Bluebook (online)
963 S.W.2d 2, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 59, 1998 WL 7443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanson-v-union-electric-co-moctapp-1998.