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White v. Town of Islip

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 20, 1998
249 A.D.2d 464 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)

Opinion

April 20, 1998

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Doyle, J.)


Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the defendant's motion is granted, and the complaint is dismissed.

On February 19, 1993, the plaintiff was driving his car northbound on Connetquot Avenue in the Town of Islip. As his car approached a curve on Connetquot Avenue, 200 feet north of its intersection with Roma Avenue, the plaintiff lost control of his vehicle, ran off the paved roadway, and crashed into trees on the east side of Connetquot Avenue.

The plaintiff instituted the instant action against the Town of Islip, alleging, inter alia, that it was negligent in its design and maintenance of Connetquot Avenue.

In support of its motion for summary judgment, the Town submitted "evidentiary proof in admissible form" ( Friends of Animals v. Associated Fur Mfrs., 46 N.Y.2d 1065, 1067-1068), including, inter alia, an affidavit from its traffic engineer, and portions of an examination before trial of a nonparty witness who was in the plaintiff's car at the time of the accident, which indicated that the roadway was not improperly designed or maintained in an unsafe condition and that the sole proximate cause of the accident was the plaintiff's failure to obey the posted speed limit ( see, Weiss v. Fote, 7 N.Y.2d 579; Tommassi v. Town of Union, 46 N.Y.2d 91; Muhlrad v. Town of Goshen, 231 A.D.2d 615; Andrews v. State of New York, 168 A.D.2d 474).

In opposition, the plaintiff failed to "produce evidentiary proof in admissible form sufficient to require a trial of material questions of fact" ( Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557, 562; see, Hough v. State of New York, 203 A.D.2d 736).

Finally, the plaintiff's claim that the presence of sand on the roadway caused the accident must be rejected since no prior written notice of such a condition was given to the Town ( see, Town Law § 65-a; Town of Islip Code § 47 A-3; Herman v. Town of Huntington, 173 A.D.2d 681; Meyer v. Town of Brookhaven, 204 A.D.2d 699).

Mangano, P.J., Copertino, Thompson and McGinity, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

White v. Town of Islip

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 20, 1998
249 A.D.2d 464 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)
Case details for

White v. Town of Islip

Case Details

Full title:ROBERT J. WHITE, Respondent, v. TOWN OF ISLIP, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Apr 20, 1998

Citations

249 A.D.2d 464 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)
671 N.Y.S.2d 680

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