Margaret Piscione v. County Oneida and Town Bridgewater

Order and Judgment unanimously affirmed with costs. Memorandum: Plaintiff was injured when a truck he was driving skidded
and overturned on Stone Road in the Town of Bridgewater, County of Oneida. Supreme Court properly granted the Town and County
summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. Plaintiff failed to establish that the Town or County had prior written notice
of the condition of the highway (see, Town Law § 65-a [1]; Drzewiecki v City of Buffalo, 51 A.D.2d 870, 871; see also, Zimmerman
v City of Niagara Falls, 112 A.D.2d 17) or that either defendant affirmatively created the dangerous condition (see, Rodriguez
v County of Suffolk, 123 A.D.2d 754, 755-756; Powell v Gates-Chili Cent. Sch. Dist., 50 Ad2d 1079, 1080). Actual or constructive
notice cannot substitute for written notice where, as here, the condition of the highway involves snow or ice (see, Banta
v County of Erie, 134 A.D.2d 839, 840; Gabri v County of Niagara, 99 A.D.2d 650; cf., Klimek v Town of Ghent, 114 A.D.2d 614;
Schmalenberger v Town of Brookhaven, 28 A.D.2d 536). In any event, the town supervisor acted reasonably and timely in salting
the road after discovering the icy condition. The court properly rejected plaintiff's claim that the accident was caused by
"frost" and thus that the statutory reference to "snow or ice" is inapplicable. The common meaning of frost is a covering
of ice on a cold surface (see, Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary [1977]). PRESENT: DENMAN, J.P., GREEN, PINE, LAWTON, LOWERY, JJ.