Court Opinion

ID: 9715371
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:01:59.300081+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:34.054683
License: Public Domain

FEINBERG-, P. J. and LEWE, J., specially concurring : We think there is another substantial basis for holding Youngren liable. The complaint charged that the defendants “drove said motor vehicle with inadequate, improper, poor and defective brakes which were unable to control the movement of said motor vehicle, ... in violation of the statute in such case made and provided.” Chapter 95%, § 211 of the Uniform Traffic Act, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1955, provides: “Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold such vehicle, including two separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two wheels. If these two separate means of applying the brakes are connected in any way, they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the motor vehicle without brakes on at least two wheels.” Whether the truck had defective brakes became a question of fact for the jury. The evidence discloses that at the scene of the accident, and immediately following the collision, Earle, the driver of the truck, stated to plaintiff, when asked why he hit him, “I can’t help it. I applied the brakes and the brakes won’t hold.” On cross-examination of plaintiff, he further testified that Earle stated at the time, “My brakes were defective; they wouldn’t hold and I couldn’t stop the truck.” The evidence was received without objection either on direct or cross-examination. This evidence, in connection with the fact that plaintiff’s car was at a standstill, waiting for a traffic light to change, when it was struck from behind by the truck, was sufficient to make it a question of fact to be determined by the jury. If the jury believed, as it had a right to, that the brakes were defective, then Toungren, as owner of the truck, in allowing the truck to be driven by his servant in the highly hazardous business of interstate commerce upon the public highways, is hable for injury resulting from the defective condition of the brakes. Rotche v. Buick Motor Co., 358 Ill. 507, 514, and cases there cited.