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Bulger v. Chicago Transit Authority12/12/2003
UNPUBLISHED
Plaintiff Daniel Bulger sued defendants, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Tony E. Williams, for personal injuries plaintiff incurred when he was struck by a CTA bus driven by Williams. Bulger's wife, plaintiff Rodica Lung, sued for loss of consortium. After a trial, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs' favor. However, the jury found Bulger 50% contributorily negligent and reduced the damages award accordingly.
On appeal, defendants seek a new trial on the issue of liability, contending that the trial court improperly admitted the CTA's post-accident disciplinary measures, that admission of those measures was highly prejudicial, and that because the CTA's internal rules and procedures lack the force of law, they should not have been incorporated into the jury instructions as evidence of negligence. On cross-appeal, plaintiffs seek a new trial on both liability and damages. They contend that the jury's failure to award Lung any damages for loss of consortium and the jury's minimal damages award for pain and suffering were not justified by the evidence and are inconsistent with the extensive award for medical expenses. Plaintiffs further contend that judgment notwithstanding the verdict should have been granted because no evidence established that Bulger was contributorily negligent or that a new trial should be granted as the result of cumulative error.
We reverse and remand for a new trial on liability and damages.
BACKGROUND
The accident at issue took place around 11:30 a.m. on March 29, 1995, at the intersection of Dearborn and Polk Streets in Chicago . Polk runs east-west, while Dearborn runs north-south, dead-ending at Polk to the south. Bulger was crossing Dearborn from east to west and Williams was turning left from Polk onto Dearborn when the accident occurred.
At trial, Bulger testified that he walked up to the northeast corner of Dearborn and Polk, waited for a car on Polk to take a right turn onto Dearborn, and then started walking across the street in the crosswalk. He was about half way across when he was hit by a bus. Bulger stated that he was "knocked off feet and some distance to the north." Eventually, an ambulance took Bulger to the hospital, where he was treated and released. Bulger testified to several injuries that resulted from the accident. On cross-examination by defendants, Bulger insisted that he did not see the bus until it hit him and acknowledged his deposition testimony that he was approximately four steps into the intersection when he was hit.
An eyewitness to the accident, Ken Kotz, testified that Bulger was walking in the crosswalk when he was hit by a bus and knocked backward to the ground. Kotz recalled the bus stopping in the turn lane on Polk and then accelerating as it turned left onto Dearborn. Kotz did not recall seeing Bulger look in the direction of the bus or stop at the curb before entering the intersection.
Williams testified that he came to a complete stop at the stop sign on Polk and put on his left turn signal. When the intersection and crosswalks were clear, he proceeded to make a left turn onto Dearborn, driving three to five miles per hour. About four or five feet beyond the crosswalk on Dearborn, the front left corner of the bus hit Bulger, whom Williams had not seen before impact. Williams "mashed" the brakes and saw Bulger falling backwards onto the ground. Williams got out of the bus to assist Bulger. Later, Williams told a police officer at the scene, "[Bulger] must have ran out, I don't know where he came from, just a pedestrian all of a sudden appeared in front of the bus."
Williams further testified that the CT
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