New York's Responsibilities for Dangerous Roads

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There is a common-sense rule on the books in New York which is not commonly known: if your car accident was at least partially caused by the defective design or dangerous condition of the roadway, you may be able to recover damages from the local municipality responsible for maintaining the roadway.

A municipality has the nondelegable duty of maintaining its roads and highways in a reasonably safe condition (see Friedman v State of New York, 67 NY2d 271). This duty extends to conditions adjacent to the highway, and if the State or governmental subdivision undertakes to provide a paved strip or shoulder alongside the roadway, it must maintain that shoulder in a reasonably safe condition for foreseeable uses, including those uses resulting from a driver's negligence or an emergency (see Bottalico v State of New York, 59 NY2d 302, 305-306; see also, Stiuso v City of New York, 87 NY2d 889, 890-891; see Carollo v Town of Colden, 27 AD3d 1077, 1078).

That duty includes "an obligation to provide and maintain adequate and proper barriers along its highways" (Gomez v New York State Thruway Auth., 73 NY2d 724, 725).

On the other hand, where the paved road surface is "more than adequate for safe public passage," travel beyond those limits on unimproved land adjacent to the roadway is generally not contemplated or foreseeable and therefore the municipality is under no duty to maintain it for vehicular traffic (see Tomassi v Town of Union, 46 NY2d 91).





"Why Most Accident Victims Do Not Recover the Full Value of Their Claim" is intended to help New Yorkers assure that they avoid some 10 simple mistakes that will almost certainly reduce the value of their accident claim, whether it results from a construction site accident, a car accident, motorcycle or bicycle accident, or even a trip and fall over a defective or cracked sidewalk.
The book addresses important topics including what you need to prove to win your accident case, and identifies some of the most common pitfalls to these cases. Click on the link above to get your FREE eBook on New York accident cases. Contact Long Island, New York accident attorney Jonathan Cooper at 516.791.5700 for a FREE consultation regarding your negligence case. There is no obligation to hire a lawyer.  There is no fee until personal injury lawyer Jonathan Cooper successfully recovers fair compensation for you.

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