Langford v. Cook County

469 N.E.2d 335, 127 Ill. App. 3d 697, 82 Ill. Dec. 801, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2334
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 18, 1984
DocketNo. 83—2109
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 469 N.E.2d 335 (Langford v. Cook County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langford v. Cook County, 469 N.E.2d 335, 127 Ill. App. 3d 697, 82 Ill. Dec. 801, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2334 (Ill. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

JUSTICE PERLIN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Donna Jean Langford and her minor children (Langford) brought an action in the circuit court of Cook County against defendant Advance Transportation Company (Advance) to recover damages for the death of Robert E. Langford, plaintiff’s husband, who was killed when his automobile was struck by an automobile driven by Sergio Cortez at the intersection of South Milwaukee Avenue and an asphalt-paved roadway leading to the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant in Wheeling, Cook County.

This appeal is concerned only with counts III and VII of plaintiffs’ amended complaint which contain the allegations against Advance. Count III seeks damages for the wrongful death of plaintiffs’ decedent, alleging that Advance “owned a portion of the intersection” of the paved roadway leading from Milwaukee Avenue to the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant; that Advance had “control and jurisdiction” over the aforesaid intersection; and that Advance was negligent in one or more of the following respects:

“a. Failed to adequately light said intersection.
b. Failed to warn motorists of the inadequate lighting.
c. Failed to design, construct and maintain said roadway so that motorists entering S. Milwaukee Road could have a reasonably clear view of traffic proceeding south on S. Milwaukee Avenue.
d. Designed, constructed and maintained an unreasonably hazardous intersection.
e. Failed to warn motorists proceeding south on S. Milwaukee Road of the aforesaid unreasonably hazardous intersection.
f. Failed to warn motorists proceeding east onto S. Milwaukee Road of the aforesaid unreasonably hazardous intersection.”

Count VII seeks damages for a “survival action,” under section 339 of the Probate Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 3, par. 339, now Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 1101/2, par. 27—6), alleging the same facts as in count III.

Although Advance in its brief claimed that, “unknown to Advance, a portion of the driveway pavement encroaches upon its property,” Advance conceded that it, in fact, owned a small segment of land underlying the intersection. In an affidavit attached to Advance’s motion for summary judgment, Michael J. Mattis, a registered Illinois land surveyor, verified Advance’s ownership of “a small triangular area at the driveway’s intersection with Milwaukee Avenue.”

In response to interrogatories, the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant acknowledged that the roadway in question was an easement granted to the 94th Aero Squadron by its landlord, George Priester, and that the 94th Aero Squadron has control over the roadway leading to its premises.

The trial court, relying on section 349 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965), granted Advance’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court held that mere ownership of a small portion of land underlying the intersection did not, as contended by plaintiffs, impose upon Advance a duty to maintain the roadway.

The sole issue presented for review is whether Advance’s ownership of a portion of the roadway upon which plaintiffs’ decedent was killed imposes a duty upon Advance to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of this roadway.

Advance’s argument for summary judgment is predicated on section 349 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965). Advance maintains that under this section it is exempted from liability and has no duty for the maintenance of the roadway. Plaintiffs argue against summary judgment, contending that under section 367 of the Restatement, Advance has such a duty.

Section 349 of the Restatement sets forth the duty of a landowner whose property is crossed by “a public highway or private right of way.” This section states:

“Sec. 349. Dangerous Conditions in Public Highway or Private Right of Way
A possessor of land over which there is a public highway or private right of way is not subject to liability for physical harm caused to travelers upon the highway or persons lawfully using the way by his failure to exercise reasonable care
(a) to maintain the highway or way in safe condition for their use, or
(b) to warn them of dangerous conditions in the way which, although not created by him, are known to him and which they neither know nor are likely to discover.”

Although research has failed to disclose any Illinois cases specifically brought under section 349, principles similar to those enunciated in this section have been adapted by Illinois courts to situations where the plaintiff is a licensee.

A licensee, as distinguished from an invitee, was defined in Trout v. Bank of Belleville (1976), 36 Ill. App. 3d 83, 87, 343 N.E.2d 261, 264, as follows:

“An invitee is a person who goes upon the premises of another by an express or implied invitation to transact business in which he and the owner have a mutual interest or to promote some real or fancied material, financial, or economic interest of the owner. [Citation.] A licensee is a person who goes upon the premises of another with the express or implied consent of the owner, to satisfy his own purposes rather than for the mutual benefit of himself and the owner or a purpose connected with the business in which the owner is engaged or permits to be carried on upon the premises.” (Emphasis added.)

In the instant case, although decedent appears to have been an invitee of the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant, his use of the roadway had no connection with Advance. Therefore, the decedent was, at most, a licensee of Advance.

In Carroll v. Lily Cache Builders, Inc. (1979), 74 Ill. App. 3d 264, 266, 392 N.E.2d 986, 988, the court held that,

“In cases involving premises liability in Illinois, a plaintiffs legal status at the time of injury is customarily a crucial factor because an owner of property owes to an invitee the duty to exercise reasonable care for [the invitee’s] safety while the only duty owed to a licensee is a duty to refrain from wilful and wanton misconduct.”

Thus, a landowner may be liable for failure to exercise reasonable care for an invitee’s safety, but not in the case of a licensee.

In Pearce v. Illinois Central Gulf R.R. Co. (1980), 89 Ill. App. 3d 22, 31, 411 N.E.2d 102, 107, the plaintiff, while driving on a private road owned and maintained by his employer, a coal mine company, was injured when his vehicle collided with a train operated by the defendant on a track which crossed the coal mine company’s private road. The private road led from a public highway to the coal mine. The court found that plaintiff,

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Bluebook (online)
469 N.E.2d 335, 127 Ill. App. 3d 697, 82 Ill. Dec. 801, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langford-v-cook-county-illappct-1984.