Doulin v. State
| Decision Date | 27 January 1938 |
| Citation | 277 N.Y. 558,13 N.E.2d 472 |
| Parties | Edwin C. DOULIN, Respondent, v. STATE of New York, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, 251 App.Div. 767, 295 N.Y.S. 663.
Action by Edwin C. Doulin against the State of New York. The action was brought under section 12-a of the Court of Claims Act to recover damages to an automobile which was struck by a rock from a mountain near a highway. April 8, 1934, was a Sunday and a clear and sunny day. It had been thawing about a month. Automobiles were traveling upon the highway both ways. Among those on the highway were the claimant Doulin driving south in a Ford car and others driving north. About four o'clock in the afternoon, Doulin was at a point on the road approximately under Crow's Nest mountain. There was a loud rumbling noise, then a piece of ledge rock fell from the mountainside alongside the road being dislodged at a point about 700 feet above it. The rock slid down, bouncing as it came and breaking into fragments some of which fell upon the highway. The ledge was two feet thick and 20 feet wide when first dislodged. The fragments struck some travelers and passed over others. Three people were killed, three were injured, and Doulin's car was smashed.
The action was brought upon the theory that the state and its agents were negligent in failing to maintain barricades, cables, retaining walls, rails or guards and properly to reinforce and protect the scenic highway so as to prevent large rocks, boulders, dirt and stones from falling from the top or sides of the mountain onto the highway. The state resisted the claim upon the ground that the accident was not caused by the loosening of rock, boulders, or stones but that in that particular instance a large rock or portion of strata, or socalled mass of mountain suddenly became dislodged, or detached, falling from its place hitting other ledges in its downward path, breaking into several pieces and falling upon the highway causing the accident. The state claimed that it had no notice and could not be deemed to have notice that such an accident might occur. The state also claimed that since the accident happened on April 8, 1934, which was a day outside of the patrol system of the state under section 176 of the Highway Law, Consol.Laws, c. 25, Laws 1922, c. 371, § 17, providing that the state shall not be liable for damages suffered by any person from defects...
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