Wood v. Village of Grayslake

593 N.E.2d 132, 229 Ill. App. 3d 343, 170 Ill. Dec. 590
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 20, 1992
Docket2-91-0966
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 593 N.E.2d 132 (Wood v. Village of Grayslake) 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
Wood v. Village of Grayslake, 593 N.E.2d 132, 229 Ill. App. 3d 343, 170 Ill. Dec. 590 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE McLAREN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Keith C. Wood, plaintiff, a disabled person, by and through his co-guardians and next friends Nancy Harrold and Ronald C. Wood, appeals from an order dismissing his third amended complaint against the Village of Grayslake (the Village), the County of Lake, and the Highway Department of County of Lake, an agent of the County of Lake (hereinafter collectively referred to as the County), defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Route 83 runs in a northwesterly/southeasterly direction and intersects with Lake Street, a north/south road, at an angle in the County of Lake. On September 20, 1988, at approximately 10 p.m., Keith Wood was operating his motorcycle on Route 83 in a northwesterly direction near its intersection with Lake Street. At the same time, Gayle Kostycz was travelling north on Lake Street. Wood’s motorcycle collided with a vehicle driven by Kostycz at this intersection, and Wood suffered permanent and disabling injuries. At the time of the collision, the intersection was controlled by stop signs on Lake Street for northbound and southbound traffic. Motorists travelling on Route 83 were not subject to any traffic control devices and were not required to stop.

Plaintiff’s third amended complaint alleged that the Illinois Highway Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 121, par. 1 — 101 et seq.), the Illinois Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 95V2, par. 11 — 304), and a maintenance agreement between the County of Lake and the State of Illinois imposed the following duties on the Village and the County:

To exercise ordinary care to inspect, control, regulate and maintain the public streets and roads, within and without its jurisdiction, in good repair and in a reasonably safe manner, and to provide, inspect, control and maintain adequate traffic signs, markings and devices, warning of dangers to motorists approaching the intersections of Route 83 and Lake Street and to provide adequate traffic control devices to regulate, guide or warn traffic of the unusual nature of the intersection which endangered the safe movement of traffic, said conditions not being reasonably apparent to or anticipated by a person in the exercise of due care and, further, to warn motorists of hazards adjacent to the roadway and to remove public nuisances adjacent to the roadway.

In separate counts, the complaint alleged that the Village negligently and/or intentionally or recklessly committed the following acts and omissions:

(1) Failed to provide sufficient traffic control signs, markings and devices at or near the intersection to provide a warning to northbound traffic on Lake Street of the presence of an intersecting northwesterly/southwesterly roadway (namely Route 83);
(2) failed to improve the existing traffic control devices by erecting signs or devices warning that cross-traffic on Route 83 does not stop and that the intersection is dangerous;
(3) failed to clear obstructions at the southeast corner of the intersection, namely an advertising sign, cement posts, and illegally parked automobiles, which hindered the view of oncoming traffic to motorists;
(4) failed to erect and maintain signs, markings or devices warning motorists that cross-traffic on Route 83 had an open intersection and was not required to stop or reduce speed;
(5) failed to reduce the designated speed limit on Route 83;
(6) failed to provide, erect or install stop signs, markings or other traffic control signals at or near all comers of the intersection to fully control the intersection;
(7) failed to maintain the crossroad indication sign on Route 83 located 650 feet southeast of its intersection with Lake Street at the time of the collision;
(8) failed to erect a sign on Lake Street warning motorists travelling on Lake Street approaching Route 83 that the crossroad indication sign 650 feet southeast of the intersection on Route 83 was not present and had been missing for an appreciable length of time; and
(9) otherwise failed to adequately control, maintain, inspect and regulate said highways.

Next, plaintiff alleged that the County of Lake and the Highway Department negligently and/or intentionally or recklessly committed the folio-wing acts and omissions:

(1) Failed to provide sufficient traffic control signs, markings and devices at or near the intersection to provide a warning to northwesterly bound traffic on Route 83 of the presence of an intersecting north/south roadway (namely Lake Street);
(2) failed to improve the existing traffic control devices by erecting signs or devices warning that the approaching intersection is dangerous, and implement other protective measures for traffic, including placing stop signs or signals to control traffic in all directions;
(3) failed to clear obstructions at the southeast corner of the intersection, namely an advertising sign, cement posts, and illegally parked automobiles, which hindered the view of oncoming traffic to motorists;
(4) failed to erect and maintain signs, markings or devices warning motorists that they were approaching a dangerous intersection;
(5) failed to reduce the designated speed limit on Route 83;
(6) failed to erect and maintain signs, markings or devices warning motorists that the aforementioned obstructions at the southeast corner of the intersection created an unanticipated and unsafe condition;
(7) failed to maintain the crossroad indication sign on Route 83 located 650 feet southeast of its intersection with Lake Street at the time of the collision;
(8) failed to erect a sign on Lake Street warning motorists travelling on Lake Street approaching Route 83 that the crossroad indication sign 650 feet southeast of the intersection on Route 83 was not present and had been missing for an appreciable length of time; and
(9) otherwise failed to adequately control, maintain, inspect and regulate said highways.

The complaint supported its wilful and wanton allegations by attaching reports of collisions occurring at the intersection in the prior four years. Knowledge of the hazardous nature of the intersection was also asserted by virtue of a safety investigation of the intersection commissioned by the Village.

In response, the Village moved to dismiss the third amended complaint pursuant to section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par.

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

Related

Daniel v. Chicago Transit Authority
2020 IL App (1st) 190479 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
Donkle v. Lind
2018 IL App (1st) 171915 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2019)
Libolt v. Wiender Circle, Inc.
2016 IL App (1st) 150118 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
Sexton v. City of Chicago
2012 IL App (1st) 100010 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2012)
Lawson v. Schmitt Boulder Hill, Inc.
924 N.E.2d 503 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2010)
Gregory v. Beazer East
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2008
Governmental Interinsurance Exchange v. Judge
850 N.E.2d 183 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2006)
Webb v. Damisch
842 N.E.2d 140 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005)
Abrams v. City of Chicago
811 N.E.2d 670 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2004)
Maldonado v. Creative Woodworking Concepts, Inc.
694 N.E.2d 1021 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)
Buckner v. O'Brien
Appellate Court of Illinois, 1997
Gavery v. McMahon & Elliott
670 N.E.2d 822 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996)
Gavery v. Elliott
Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996
Fancher v. Central Illinois Public Service Co.
664 N.E.2d 692 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996)
Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc. v. City of Waukegan
657 N.E.2d 1201 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
Payne v. Lake Forest Community High School District 115
268 Ill. App. 3d 783 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
Payne v. LAKE FOREST COM. HIGH SCH. 115
644 N.E.2d 835 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
Johnson v. Du Page Airport Authority
644 N.E.2d 802 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
Hertel v. Sullivan
633 N.E.2d 36 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
593 N.E.2d 132, 229 Ill. App. 3d 343, 170 Ill. Dec. 590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wood-v-village-of-grayslake-illappct-1992.