Felty v. New Berlin Transit

Plaintiff, a journeyman lineman, sustained personal injury when he fell from a large, oil circuit breaker as it struck an overhanging cable during transport through the city of Metropolis. He brought this action in the circuit court of Williamson County to recover damages which resulted from this injury. The jury returned a verdict of $950,000 against four defendants involved in the transport of the circuit breaker and against appellee, General Telephone Company, who owned and maintained the cable. General Telephone appealed the judgment on the verdict, and the appellate court reversed (47 Ill. App.3d 427), finding that the telephone company's conduct was not the proximate cause of plaintiff's injury, but that it merely created a condition which resulted in the accident only by reason of subsequent, independent, and unforeseeable acts of the other defendants. We granted leave to appeal and now reverse and remand to the appellate court. Plaintiff was hired to ride atop large, oil circuit breakers as they were being transported from Joppa to a Renshaw substation. The circuit breakers, which weighed nine tons each and were 16 feet 2 1/2 inches high, were anchored on a low-boy truck bed estimated to be 18 to 22 inches in height without the circuit breakers and 1 to 2 inches lower when they were loaded on it. Plaintiff's job was to clear tree limbs, power lines and telephone cable where necessary, by lifting them over the circuit breaker being transported. As the large equipment slowly moved along, a spotter drove ahead of the truck and located the various obstructions, calling them to the attention of the truck driver. In addition, the driver kept a lookout for such obstacles, as did plaintiff, who had worked out a set of signals with the driver so that he could indicate to the driver when he should slow down and stop. About one month prior to moving the equipment, an employee of the transport companies traveled the route measuring the overhead wires by means of a 12-foot pole placed atop his 6-foot-1-inch frame. He testified that he remembered clearing the cable in question.