Scattareggia v. Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.

OPINION OF THE COURT

William H. Keniry, J.

Is a landowner who maintains a "fieldstone” wall on his property adjacent to a town highway in a rural area legally responsible if a motorist fails to negotiate a curve, leaves the roadway and crashes into the wall, sustaining serious injuries resulting in his death? That is the central issue now presented for this court’s resolution on this motion for summary judgment.

Plaintiffs intestate Frank Scattareggia (Scattareggia) was operating a borrowed three-wheeled motorcycle, commonly known as an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on Fire Tower Road, a rural dirt…