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Kawaguchi v. Gainer9/16/2005
oyment duties was exercised by my superior police officers by means of orders and directives issued in the chain of command of the Department of State Police located at its District #15." The contract also provides that the State Police has the exclusive authority to choose which officers to assign to the district. Pursuant to this provision, the State Police assigns to District 15 only those officers who have been trained consistent with the policies and standards of the State Police.
Trooper Gainer is one of those officers. Shortly after joining the State Police, she attended the police academy, where she was certified as a state trooper. She was then assigned to District 15, where her duties included answering radio calls, making traffic stops, and enforcing traffic laws. Additionally, as a trained first responder, she was required to respond to the scenes of traffic accidents to see if her medical training could be of use. Once there, she was responsible for determining the number of people and vehicles involved, assessing the extent of the injuries, and deciding whether an ambulance was needed.
On the day of the accident with which we are concerned here, Trooper Gainer planned to do exactly that. From the place where she had earlier conducted the traffic stop, there were two routes she could take to get to the scene of the accident. The first route required her to drive through a toll area, then drive an additional mile, then turn around, drive back over the mile she would have just traveled, go back through the toll area again, and then proceed to the accident scene.
The second route allowed her to make use of an "authorized vehicles only" turnaround. To do so, she needed to proceed south across the westbound lanes of Interstate 88, a course of action authorized by statute. See 625 ILCS 5/11--205(b), (c)(4) (West 2002) ("The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call *, may" " isregard regulations governing direction of movement"). Because of the slow down involved in taking the first route, including having to twice pass through the toll area, Trooper Gainer did not consider that route a valid option for an emergency response.
After selecting her route, Trooper Gainer said, she turned on her flashing lights and siren and started toward the scene of the accident. She headed down an on ramp onto Interstate 88, and then proceeded south across the westbound lanes in the direction of the authorized vehicles turnaround. At this point, Interstate 88 has three westbound lanes. When Trooper Gainer entered the interstate, the morning was bright and clear, and conditions were dry. Traffic in the first two lanes yielded the right-of-way, and Trooper Gainer proceeded toward the turnaround.
She did not make it. As Trooper Gainer entered the third lane, plaintiff smashed into the driver's-side door of her patrol car. At about the same time, there was a collision between plaintiff's car and Effinger's car. According to Effinger, who has also sued Trooper Gainer, Trooper Gainer did not have her flashing lights and siren activated at the time. Effinger did not say Trooper Gainer was driving something other than a clearly marked police car.
Trooper Gainer was apparently injured in the accident. As required by both contract and statute, she filed a workers' compensation claim with the Authority. At the time of her deposition, Trooper Gainer remained an employee of the State Police.
B. Procedural History
In February 2003, about a year after she crashed into Trooper Gainer, plaintiff filed suit against her. In her complaint, plaintiff claimed that crashing into Trooper Gainer caused plainti
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