My Way On The Highway

The New York Court of Appeals has reversed the grant of summary judgment to a Superintendent of Highways who was returning to work after evaluating snow conditions and had caused an accident

On a snowy day in December 2018, the Superintendent of Highways for the Town of Carmel drove into an intersection without right of way and collided with plaintiff’s vehicle. The sole question on this appeal is whether the record establishes that the superintendent was “actually engaged in work on a highway” at the time of the collision, which would exempt the municipal defendants from liability for ordinary negligence under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1103 (b). Based on the record before us, we hold that the superintendent was not engaged in the type of work covered by section 1103 (b) at the time of the accident.

Facts

After observing a quarter inch of snow accumulation, Simone radioed his team and directed all 35 employees to salt the town’s roads, a task which he anticipated would be completed within an hour. Simone then began to drive back to his office. He testified at his deposition that, at this point, he did not believe there was any emergency, was not in a rush to return to the office, and had no intention of conducting any further road inspection while en route. When he came to the intersection of Lakeview Drive and Highridge Road, Simone brought his vehicle to a complete stop at a stop sign and looked to his left whereupon, he testified, he observed another quarter inch accumulation of snow on the road. Simone took no action in response to that observation but resolved to inform his team about it upon returning to the office. He then proceeded on his journey. Without looking to his right, he entered the intersection and collided with plaintiff Ana Orellana’s vehicle.

Liability

Here, according to Simone’s own deposition testimony, the accident occurred after he had fully completed his assessment of roadway conditions at his bellwether location and mobilized his entire team to salt the town’s roads. At the time of the accident, Simone was merely using the road to return to work. Although he testified that he saw a slushy accumulation of snow to his left shortly before the collision occurred, he took no action in response to observing that condition. Indeed, he testified that as he pulled into the intersection where the collision occurred, there was nothing keeping his attention drawn to his left and he was no longer looking at the condition.