Opinion ID: 2299808
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Law Elsewhere

Text: Given the prevalence of utility poles along the nation's streets and highways, it is not surprising that those poles have been the object of thousands of collisions, resulting in many lawsuits against not only the governmental entity that owns or maintains the road but also the owners or erectors of the poles. The facts vary, of course, from one case to another, and so do the decisions. The courts have looked at a variety of factors in determining whether the utility should be held accountablewhether the location of the pole was mandated by some governmental authority or was determined largely or entirely by the utility, how far the pole was located from the traveled portion of the roadway, the nature and condition of the road at that point, whether the pole had been struck on earlier occasions and, if so, how often, whether the pole was to the right or the left of the vehicle in the direction the vehicle should have been traveling, the conduct of the driver, the reason why the vehicle or pedestrian left the roadway, whether it was feasible for the utility to locate the pole elsewhere, and the cost and feasibility of effectively requiring a relocation of existing poles by imposing tort liability. Some of those factors have been examined in the context of foreseeability or other considerations relating to whether there is an underlying duty on the part of the utility; others have been examined in the context of proximate cause, whether, even if the placement of the pole was negligent, that placement effectively caused the plaintiff's injuries. The pronouncements of the courts, as might be expected, proceed from and relate to the particular factors determined to be relevant in the case. Evidencing and synopsizing the myriad of cases arising from collisions between vehicles and poles are four A.L.R. annotations: Liability of Company Maintaining Poles in or Near Highway for Damages to Person or Property Resulting from Road Vehicle Striking Pole, 82 A.L.R. 395 (1933), supplemented in 98 A.L.R. 487 (1935); Injury To Traveler From Collision With Privately Owned Pole Standing Within Boundaries Of Highway, 3 A.L.R.2d 6 (1949); and Placement, Maintenance, or Design of Standing Utility Pole As Affecting Private Utility's Liability For Personal Injury Resulting From Vehicle's Collision With Pole Within Or Beside Highway, 51 A.L.R.4th 602 (1987). The general principle of law articulated in those annotations has not changed. The 1933 annotation stated, as a general proposition, that a company maintaining poles in or near a public highway is not liable for damage resulting from a road vehicle striking the pole unless it is erected on the traveled portion of the highway or in such close proximity thereto as to constitute an obstruction dangerous to anyone properly using the highway, and the location of the pole is the proximate cause of the collision. 82 A.L.R. at 395. The 1987 annotation echoes that statement: that liability depends on whether the pole is located in or so close to the traveled portion as to constitute a danger to anyone properly using the highway, and on whether the location of the pole is the proximate cause of the injury. 51 A.L.R. 4th at 611. Some courts have taken the view that properly using the highway means remaining on the highway and have declined to impose liability on a utility when a vehicle leaves the road and strikes a pole that does not otherwise obstruct traffic in the traveled portion of the road, sometimes grounding their decision on a lack of duty to anticipate such a departure, sometimes on a holding that the location of the pole was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury. See, for example, Armand v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 482 So.2d 802 (La.App.), cert. denied, 484 So.2d 669 (La.1986), involving an intoxicated driver whose car went unexpectedly into a spin on a wet road, jumped a curb, and struck a pole less than three feet from the curb. In a split decision, the court held that the location of the pole did not create an unreasonable risk of harm and that to conclude otherwise, in light of the many poles and trees lining the streets, would be tantamount to imposing strict liability. A utility company, the court said, has no obligation to guard against rare exigencies such as an out of control vehicle leaving a traveled roadway. Apart from that lack of duty, the court concluded as well that the pole's location was not a cause-in-fact of the accident, nor was it a substantial contributing factor. Id. at 804. A similar result was reached in Oram v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, 132 N.J.Super. 491, 334 A.2d 343 (N.J.Super.A.D.1975). The plaintiffs were passengers in a car that was forced off the road in such manner that the left side of the car struck a pole located approximately two feet from the traveled portion of the road. Affirming a summary judgment entered for the utility, the court first noted that, because it was the left side of the car that struck the pole, the likelihood was that the collision would have occurred even if the pole were farther away. See 4 BLASHFIELD AUTOMOBILE LAW § 163.21 (3d ed.1965). Apart from that, echoing the view of the Armand court, the New Jersey court concluded that a utility is under no obligation of guarding against extraordinary exigencies created when a vehicle leaves the traveled portion of a roadway out of control. Id. at 345. To require a utility to anticipate such an extraordinary circumstance, it added, would be to require it to exercise extraordinary rather than ordinary care to prevent injuries. See also Clinkenbeard v. City of St. Joseph, 321 Mo. 71, 10 S.W.2d 54 (1928). The RESTATEMENT takes a somewhat more liberal approach, by recognizing the prospect of liability in certain settings for off-road collisions. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS, § 368 provides: A possessor of land who creates or permits to remain thereon an excavation or other artificial condition so near an existing highway that he realizes or should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk to others accidentally brought into contact with such condition while traveling with reasonable care upon the highway, is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to persons who (a) are traveling on the highway, or (b) foreseeably deviate from it in the ordinary course of travel. (Emphasis added.) Clause (a) in the RESTATEMENT section represents the Earp situation. Clause (b) provides some area of possible expansion, although, in practice, it has not served as the basis for a major shift in thinking. The focus remains on foreseeability. Comment h to § 368 declares that the essential question is whether [the pole] is so placed that travelers may be expected to come in contact with it in the course of a deviation reasonably to be anticipated in the ordinary course of travel. Though noting the obvious relevance of the distance between the condition and the roadway, the comment points out that distance is important only as it affects the recognizable risk and that other factors, such as the nature of the condition itself, its accessibility, and the extent and character of the use of the highway, must be taken into account. Comment e says essentially the same thing, that [t]he public right to use the highway carries with it the right to protection by reasonable care against harm suffered in the course of deviations which may be regarded as the normal incidents of travel. The split in the decisions reflects differing views of what a utility should reasonably anticipate and over the countervailing consequences and benefits of extending a utility's liability. Some courts continue to adhere to the view that a utility cannot reasonably be expected to anticipate and protect against out-of-control vehicles leaving the traveled part of the road, although, increasingly, they are looking at a variety of factors in reaching that conclusion and not drawing it solely from the fact that the accident occurred off the roadway. See, for example, Rothwell v. West Cent. Elec. Co-op., Inc., 845 S.W.2d 42 (Mo.App.1992), where, as here, the driver lost control of the vehicle, crossed the center line and oncoming lane, and struck a pole some eight to eleven feet off the other side of the road. The court denied liability, noting, at 44: In general, this type of accident involving the pole is not reasonably foreseeable. This court finds nothing to show that the pole was located so close to the roadway that it would have been a dangerous obstruction to anyone properly using the roadway. There was no evidence of a vehicle ever colliding with a pole in this location in the three decades of this line. It would be unreasonable, the court added, to find that the utility owed a duty to a motorist who unforeseeably deviated from the roadway and hit a pole at least eight feet from the road. Id. That court thus looked at the extraordinary nature of the deviation, the distance between the pole and the road, and the lack of earlier collisions. Boylan v. Martindale, 103 Ill.App.3d 335, 59 Ill.Dec. 43, 431 N.E.2d 62 (1982) and Gouge v. Central Illinois Public Service, 144 Ill.2d 535, 163 Ill.Dec. 842, 582 N.E.2d 108 (1991) are additional examples of this approach. In Boylan, the plaintiff's car was struck in an intersection collision and knocked into a pole located six to twelve inches from the traveled portion of the roadway. Finding no liability on the part of the utility, the court concluded that the mere placement of the pole at that distance does not, in and of itself, create an unreasonable risk to others traveling with reasonable care and that it could not determine from the pleading what, if any particular dangerous roadway condition may have caused automobiles to leave the roadway and collide with the utility poles. Id. at 70. In Gouge, the driver lost control of the car while rounding a curve, left the road, and struck a pole 15 feet from the paved surface. Holding that the action by him and his passenger was properly dismissed, the court determined that the utility does not owe a duty to motorists who unforeseeably deviate from the traveled portion of the roadway and strike a utility pole located 15 feet from the roadway. Id. at 114. Indiana has rendered decisions going both ways. In Bush v. Northern Indiana Public Service, 685 N.E.2d 174 (Ind.App. 1997), the driver, speeding around a curve, lost control of the car and collided with a pole four-and-a-half feet from the road. The court affirmed a summary judgment in favor of the utility in an action brought by a passenger in the car on three grounds: (1) the utility had no relationship with the passenger sufficient to support a duty; (2) the harm was not foreseeable; and (3) it was the driver's negligence, rather than the placement of the pole, that was the proximate cause of the accident and the plaintiff's injuries. With respect to foreseeability, the court acknowledged that it might be foreseeable that a motorist would leave the road and collide with a pole if the pole is located on a sharp curve or on an island in the middle of a dangerous intersection, or where there had been several prior accidents involving the same pole, but concluded that when there is nothing inherent in the location of the pole to put the utility on notice that an accident might occur, it cannot be said that the harm was foreseeable. Id. at 178. A utility, it added, is only required to anticipate the ordinary and normal use of the highway, not the illegal and reckless conduct of motorists. Id. Compare, however, Northern Indiana Public Serv. Co. v. Sell, 597 N.E.2d 329 (Ind.App.1992), also affirming summary judgment for the utility when the driver fell asleep, crossed the center line, and went down an embankment, with State v. Cornelius, 637 N.E.2d 195 (Ind.App.1994) and Goldsberry v. Grubbs, 672 N.E.2d 475 (Ind.App.1996), reversing such summary judgments. Florida has taken an approach similar to that in Bush. In Padgett v. West Florida Elec. Coop., Inc., 417 So.2d 764 (Fla.App. 1982) and Florida Power & Light v. Macias By Macias, 507 So.2d 1113 (Fla.App. 1987), it has adopted the general rule that the chance that a vehicle in the ordinary course of travel will deviate from the roadway and collide with a pole is only a remote possibility, under certain circumstances it is not a legally foreseeable event. Florida Power & Light, 507 So.2d at 1115. To recover, therefore, a plaintiff must present some evidence which indicates a particularly dangerous condition which would make it likely, and thus foreseeable, that vehicles would deviate from the roadway and collide with the particular pole alleged to have been negligently maintained. Id. at 1116. New York has taken somewhat of a dual position. In Hayes v. Malkan, 26 N.Y.2d 295, 310 N.Y.S.2d 281, 258 N.E.2d 695 (1970), the court cited Trabisco v. City of New York, 280 N.Y. 776, 21 N.E.2d 615 (1939), for the proposition that, if an obstruction is in close proximity to the pavement and within the highway right of way, a question of fact is raised as to whether the placement of the object was such as to create an unreasonable danger for travelers on the highway, along with the exception enunciated in Darling v. State of New York, 16 N.Y.2d 907, 212 N.E.2d 152, 264 N.Y.S.2d 698 (N.Y.1965), that that rule did not apply when the evidence clearly indicated that the negligence of the driver was the proximate cause of the accident. The court, then, in a four-to-three decision, confirmed that exception and determined that the Trabisco rule also did not apply when the obstruction is located on private property, not within the public right of way. A contrary ruling, it said, would severely restrict the adjoining property owner's use of his or her own land, for, if carried to its logical conclusion, it would require a landowner to remove every tree, fence, mailbox or name sign located on his property in the vicinity of the highway, or permit them to remain, subject to possible liability. Id. at 696. This, the court said, would impose an intolerable burden upon a property owner. The Hayes court reversed a judgment for the passenger in a car that collided with a utility pole located seven inches from the side of the road. In Contey v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Co., 136 N.J. 582, 643 A.2d 1005 (1994), the court recounted the fact that 65,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths occur annually from vehicle/pole collisions and some of the efforts made by the Federal Highway Administration to reduce or mitigate such collisions. Noting that, under New Jersey law, utilities did not have the unilateral right to determine the location of poles along the public roadways, the court concluded that the problem was best resolved by the governmental authorities responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining roads and highways, rather than by placing tort liability on the utility companies: We believe that responsibility for the safety of motorists should rest with those who own, control, and maintain the thoroughfare. Although utility companies have a duty to foresee that motorists will leave the traveled portion of the highway, the governmental bodies and highway planners are best suited to determine how the utilities should fulfill that duty. Those public bodies are in the best position to provide and to enforce standards and regulations governing utilities. Id. at 1009-10. On that basis, the court affirmed a summary judgment for the utility, notwithstanding the court's view, from the accident scene itself, that the likelihood of a motorist striking the particular pole was great, that it had been struck before, and that precautions taken after the accident should have been taken earlier. Several courts have been more lenient in allowing recovery, at least under some circumstances. In Scheel v. Tremblay, 226 Pa.Super. 45, 312 A.2d 45 (1973), the driver, rounding a curve on a narrow road, moved slightly to the right to avoid an approaching car and struck a pole located ten inches from the paved portion of the road. Reversing the grant of summary judgment in the passenger's suit against the utility company, the court made clear that a utility's liability is not limited to cases where the pole is in the roadway itself, but may be imposed when the pole is so close to the edge of the road as to constitute a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to users of the highway, and that, in such cases, the conditions of the highway are critical. Id. at 47. The realities of automobile travel, it concluded, are not such that a slight deviation from the paved portion of a road should be deemed such an extraordinary event as to preclude liability as a matter of law. Scheel is not an extraordinary case. A number of courts have found liability, or the prospect of liability, when the pole is within a few feet of the paved roadway and the condition and topography of the road make a deviation foreseeable. See, for example, McMillan v. State Highway Com'n, 426 Mich. 46, 393 N.W.2d 332 (1986); Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. Lumpkin, 725 So.2d 721 (Miss.1998); Jacque v. Public Service Co. of Colorado, 890 P.2d 138 (Colo.1994); George v. City of Los Angeles, 11 Cal.2d 303, 79 P.2d 723 (1938); Peninsular Tel. Co. v. Marks, 144 Fla. 652, 198 So. 330 (1940). Other courts have gone even further and found liability based ostensibly on proximity alone. See, for example, Weiss v. Holman, 58 Wis.2d 608, 207 N.W.2d 660 (1973) and earlier Wisconsin cases cited therein, concluding that persons who deviate from the traveled portion of the roadway may recover and that, when the defendant is a utility, the distance of the plaintiff's deviation from the highway, rather than foreseeability, is the important factor.