Illinois Tort Immunity Act Section 3-102 - Interpretation

In Wojdyla v. City of Park Ridge, the court indicated that we should examine the property itself to determine its intended use. Wojdyla v. City of Park Ridge, 148 Ill. 2d 417, 426, 592 N.E.2d 1098, 170 Ill. Dec. 418 (1992). The court described indications of intended use: streets are paved, marked and regulated by traffic signs for use by vehicles; "pedestrian walkways are designated by painted crosswalks by design, and by intersections by custom." Wojdyla, 148 Ill. 2d at 426. Following this reasoning, pedestrians who cross streets outside of crosswalks are not intended users of the street as contemplated in section 3-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. Vaughn, 166 Ill. 2d at 161; Wojdyla, 148 Ill. 2d at 426.