Court Opinion

ID: 9711927
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:42:14.944737+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:08.426764
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE EARNS, dissenting: Sections 11 — 205(e) and 11 — 907(b) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 95%, pars. 11 — 205(e), 11 — 907(b)) are express enactments that establish ordinary negligence as the standard of care in the operation of emergency vehicles by police officers. Section 11 — 205(e) provides: “(e) The foregoing provisions do not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty of driving with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor do such provisions protect the driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others.” Section 11 — 907(b) provides: “(b) This Section shall not operate to relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.” In Mayfield v. City of Springfield (1982), 103 Ill. App. 3d 1114, 432 N.E.2d 617, and Bouhl v. Smith (1985), 130 Ill. App. 3d 1067, 475 N.E.2d 244, it was held that the ordinary negligence standard applies to operators of emergency vehicles. The defendant City of Collinsville would be immune from liability only under the provision of section 2 — 109 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 85, par. 2 — 109), which provides that a “local public entity is not liable for an injury resulting from an act or omission of its employee where the employee is not liable.” Inasmuch as the officer is not immune from liability for ordinary negligence, the City is not immune. On the surface, Thompson v. City of Chicago (1985), 108 Ill. 2d 429, 484 N.E.2d 1086, and Fitzpatrick v. City of Chicago (1986), 112 Ill. 2d 211, 492 N.E.2d 1292, might seem to require a contrary holding; however, neither involves the operation of an emergency vehicle on the public highways. In Thompson, the vehicle was being used in crowd control near a gate at the International Amphitheater in Chicago to prevent a minor riot. In Fitzpatrick, the vehicle was parked in a median at the scene of an accident. In both instances, the officers were in the act of “enforcing the law.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 85, par. 2 — 202.