Viola Harford v. State New York

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Claims which dismissed the claim, following a trial, on a finding of freedom from negligence against the State and contributory negligence on the part of the decedent. The accident happened on September 10, 1955, at about 1:30 P.M., on a sunny, dry day. The automobile operated by the decedent was proceeding along a macadam road until it reached a bridge where the road bed became concrete. After crossing the bridge, the road curved to the left but was level. There was an unobstructed view in the direction in which the automobile of the decedent was traveling at approximately 35 miles per hour. While making the curve, after leaving the bridge, the automobile of the decedent left the concrete road and went onto the shoulder where it continued for some distance and then returned to the road at a point where it was macadamized and continued thereon for a distance of approximately 500 feet, crossed the road and crashed into a tree. The claimant charged the State with negligence due primarily to the accumulation of ""a large quantity of crushed stones, gravel, sand and other foreign matter of a slippery and dangerous nature"". There was testimony at the trial concerning stone being