Shearman v. State

Headnote

Shearman v. State of New York, 181 App. Div. 912 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the third judicial department, entered December 6, 1917, affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon an award of the Court of Claims. The claimant sought to recover damages alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the state, its officers and agents by so constructing and maintaining certain repairs upon the Pompey-Jamesville county highway as to permit a portion of said highway to become covered with a dangerous and slippery coat of oil and allowing other unsafe conditions upon said highway to exist, thereby causing an automobile in which claimant was riding to skid or slide in such a manner as to overturn whereby the plaintiff received personal injuries.- The state denied that an excess amount of oil existed upon the highway. It is further contended that the proximate

cause of claimant’s injuries was not due to the condition of the highway but to the negligent operation of the car by claimant’s husband which, under the circumstances, is imputed to the claimant and defeated her recovery herein. The state further contended that if the condition of the highway in any way contributed to claimant’s injuries the liability therefor was that of the independent contractor for the repairs to the highway.