Sabo v. T. W. Moore Feed & Grain Co.

239 N.E.2d 459, 97 Ill. App. 2d 7, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1213
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 26, 1968
DocketGen. 67-50
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 239 N.E.2d 459 (Sabo v. T. W. Moore Feed & Grain Co.) 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
Sabo v. T. W. Moore Feed & Grain Co., 239 N.E.2d 459, 97 Ill. App. 2d 7, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1213 (Ill. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

GOLDENHERSH, J.

Defendants, T. W. Moore Feed & Grain Company, hereafter called Moore, Berthold C. Humphreys, Jr., hereafter called Humphreys, and Medford M. Cox, hereafter called Cox, appeal from judgments entered upon jury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs, Ernest Sabo, hereafter called Sabo, and Fred J. Allen, hereafter called Allen, in plaintiffs’ actions for personal injuries.

The complaint, containing one count for Sabo and one for Allen, alleges that by reason of the negligence of the defendants, an automobile driven by Cox, and a truck owned by Moore and driven by Humphreys, collided; as the result of the collision cattle being transported in the truck were released; shortly thereafter one of the cattle ran into the automobile owned and driven by Sabo, in which Allen was a passenger.

The evidence shows that at approximately 1:00 a. m. on August 27, 1965, Humphreys was driving Moore’s tractor-trailer north on Route 159. The trailer contained 52 white-faced Hereford steers. Humphreys testified that he was traveling at a speed of 50 miles per hour with his headlights on bright, when he saw the southbound Cox automobile, in its proper lane, approximately 500 yards distant, with its lights on bright. He immediately dimmed his lights; when the vehicles were approximately 450 yards apart he flashed his lights up to bright, flashed them on bright and dim several more times, and when the vehicles were 1,000 feet apart he flashed them on dim. At this point, the Cox vehicle dimmed its lights and when on dim, only one headlight was lighted. When the vehicles were approximately 400 to 500 feet apart, the Cox automobile went off the road. The automobile returned to the pavement and went off the road a second time. Humphreys could not state the distance between the two vehicles at that time. He immediately grabbed the trailer brake, the Cox automobile came back onto the pavement into the truck’s lane of travel and collided with the right front wheel of the tractor. After the impact the truck jackknifed, Humphreys lost control, the truck went across the highway and turned over on its side on the west side of the road. Humphreys got out of the cab, and almost immediately thereafter the tractor caught fire.

The cattle trailer was a “double-decker,” with gates which divided each deck into three sections. The gates were secured by chains, and in order to release the cattle it was necessary to open the doors of the trailer, and open the gates from the inside. After the collision the doors at the rear of the trailer were in place, and closed.

Humphreys had suffered a cut on the head, and after about 5 minutes, left the scene to go to the hospital. Several people had gathered at the scene, he told several bystanders that the cattle were not to be released regardless of what happened, and rather than release them, they were to be permitted to burn to death.

Cox testified that he was driving south on Route 159 at a speed of 50 to 55 miles per hour. He saw the truck for the first time when the vehicles were 200 to 300 feet apart, and at that time did not notice anything in particular with reference to the truck’s headlights. The truck’s lights were on bright. Cox flashed his headlights for the truck, the truck’s lights blinded Cox, and he ran off on the right-hand shoulder. At no time before the collision did he apply his brakes. He stated that the collision occurred in his lane of travel. The record shows that he was cross-examined extensively with respect to discrepancies between his testimony at the trial and his discovery deposition.

David Neff, driving an automobile south on 159, had followed the Cox car for approximately two miles before the collision. He saw the Cox automobile swerve off the road, and thought it did so twice. He saw the truck’s headlights and did not think they were blinding. He did not see the truck on Cox’s side of the road at any time before it jackknifed.

The collision between the Moore truck and the Cox automobile occurred on Route 159, approximately one-quarter mile north of its intersection with Route 156.

James B. Odie, an Illinois State Trooper, was called to the scene and arrived there at approximately 1:15 a. m. The tractor had been on fire, and he learned that the fire had been extinguished by members of the Hecker Volunteer Fire Department. Neither Cox nor Humphreys were at the scene when he arrived. Odie had seen a number of white-faced cattle approximately one-quarter mile north of the scene, and saw several more on the west side of the road near the overturned trailer. There were two or three cattle still in the trailer.

Bryan Rausch, a passenger in Neff’s car, testified that he and Neff stopped at the scene, gave Humphreys some handkerchiefs because his head was bleeding, and left the scene to obtain help. At that time the cattle were in the trailer, but when they returned from a truck stop a quarter mile distant, the cattle had been released.

Several people who were in the restaurant at the truck stop testified that they went to the scene of the collision, and saw no cattle running at large. Two of these witnesses stated the trailer doors were closed. There was some general conversation about releasing the cattle and someone, not identified, released them.

One of the volunteer firemen testified that when he arrived at the scene, the cattle had not been released. He and the other firemen attempted to extinguish the flames, but ran out of water. They returned to Hecker, and when he came back to the scene approximately 40 minutes later, the steers had been released.

Arthur Budde testified that he was one-quarter mile south of the scene when he heard a crash, and saw flames. When he arrived at the scene, Humphreys was at the rear of the trailer. He observed that the trailer doors were closed. He drove Humphreys to the hospital at Red Bud, and when they arrived there he asked Humphreys whether he should release the cattle. Humphreys replied “Not unless you want to take the responsibility for it— just leave them in there.”

At approximately 1:40 a. m. on August 27, 1965, Sabo was driving his Renault automobile north on Route 159. Allen was riding in the front seat and Sabo’s son, Michael, was riding in the back seat. Both Allen and Michael were asleep. He had been driving at approximately 65 miles per hour and as he approached the intersection of Routes 159 and 156, he decelerated to approximately 50 to 55 miles per hour. He dimmed his lights for an oncoming car, and when he was approximately one-quarter mile south of the intersection of the highways, he saw a white-faced steer in his lane of travel. It was about 50 feet ahead of him when he first saw it. He applied his brakes, but collided with the steer. He was knocked unconscious, and learned later that after striking the steer, his car had collided with an oncoming automobile.

Verlyn Smith, an Illinois State Trooper, called to the scene, found a dead steer near the point where he found Sabo’s car and the automobile with which it had collided.

Both defendants contend that the negligence which caused the collision cannot be held to be the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries.

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Bluebook (online)
239 N.E.2d 459, 97 Ill. App. 2d 7, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sabo-v-t-w-moore-feed-grain-co-illappct-1968.