A Rural Electric Company does not owe a duty of care to a driver on the roadway to install a utility pole fifteen feet off the roadway unless it is foreseeable that the driver would deviate from the roadway and strike the utility pole. Plaintiff sued the Rural Electric Company for personal injuries sustained when her car skidded off the roadway and struck a utility pole owned by the Company. With no evidence that similar accidents had occurred in the past twenty-three years, the Company was not liable for plaintiff's injuries. The court mentioned that Utility companies do have a duty to exercise reasonable care in the installation and maintenance of their utility poles, but they do not owe a duty to motorists who unforeseeably deviate from the traveled portion of the roadway and strike a utility pole located fifteen feet from the roadway. Miller v. Highway Commissioner, No. 4-03-0347, 2003 Ill.App. LEXIS 1554 (4th Dist. Dec. 18, 2003).
