Hayes v. Alsburg

The plaintiff, Dorothy Hayes, brought an action for personal injuries in the circuit court of McLean County against the drivers of four cars involved in a rear-end chain collision, which she alleged had occurred as the result of negligence on the part of one or more of the defendants, Lowell Alsburg, Sidney Vickers, Frank Enyart, and Terry Hart. A jury returned verdicts for all four defendants, and the appellate court, with one justice dissenting, affirmed (52 Ill. App. 3d 355). We granted the plaintiff’s petition for leave to appeal (65 Ill. 2d R. 315).

There had been an earlier jury trial,…