Court Opinion

ID: 9718847
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:36:12.850331+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:03.200591
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE SEIDENFELD dissenting: I dissent. Whether there has been wilful and wanton conduct in any given case necessitates close scrutiny of the facts disclosed by the evidence since in most instances they are wholly dissimilar from case to case. (Mower v. Williams (1949), 402 Ill. 486, 489; cf. Gaiennie v. Fringer (1955), 5 Ill.App.2d 403, 412.) Applying the Pedrick (Pedrick v. Peoria & Eastern R.R. Co. (1967), 37 Ill.2d 494, 510) rule to the evidence in this record, I would reach the conclusion that the trial court did not err in allowing the jury to decide the issue of wilfulness and wantonness. The rule requires the evidence to be viewed in its aspect most favorable to the plaintiff. The majority opinion goes into the conflicting evidence at great length to reach the conclusion that it overwhelmingly favors the defendant on the wilful and wanton issue. The trial court, however, may not substitute its judgment for that of the jury if there is any substantial factual dispute. (Pedrick v. Peoria & Eastern R.R. Co., 37 Ill.2d 494, 504.) The trial court recognized this, but the majority, in my view, has not, and has substituted its judgment for that of the jury. The evidence in its aspect most favorable to the plaintiff, however, is that just prior to the accident, the defendant driver was looking for the proper entrance. Defendant testified that he first saw plaintiff when his tractor was on the apron of the driveway to the parking lot. Yet, a disinterested witness who was driving behind the defendant testified that he saw the truck as it started its immediate turn and moved across the oncoming lanes, and that he was able to see the motorcycle. The defendant drove his tractor and trailer across oncoming lanes of traffic without stopping. He knew the size of his truck as well as the time which would be required for his truck to clear the oncoming lanes. Notwithstanding his duty to be sure that no traffic was approaching from any distance which would result in a collision while his vehicle blocked the lanes of traffic, he made the turn without stopping in flagrant disregard of that duty. The evidence also denotes an emergency situation created by the defendant, and supports the propriety of allowing a factual determination of the wilfulness and wantonness issue. See Gaiennie v. Fringer, 5 Ill.App.2d 403, 411; Haskett v. Baker (1971), 1 Ill.App.3d 441, 443. Contrast Hocking v. Rehnquist (1969), 44 Ill.2d 196, 201, which involves an emergency situation not of defendant’s own creation. Under all the circumstances, I would conclude that the evidence is not overwhelmingly in favor of the movant, and that therefore the question of wilfulness and wantonness becomes a factual question which was properly submitted to the trier of the facts and which the jury resolved in favor of the plaintiff. (See Delany v. Badame (1971), 49 Ill.2d 168, 177; Chmiel v. Pierce (1973), 9 Ill.App.3d 130, 133.) I would therefore affirm the judgment below. ■ '