SUPREME COURT: COUNTY OF CHAUTAUQUA

_____________________________________________

BARBARA A. SCHREIER,

Plaintiff,

vs Index #H-08749

ESTATE OF GLEN J. DEL GRECO,

EMPIRE SCALE CORPORATION,

COUNTY OF CHAUTAUQUA,

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT,

and DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS,

Defendants.

_____________________________________________

ELIZABETH NELSON, an Infant by ELIZABETH

ANN DOMINO, Her Guardian Ad Litem,

Plaintiffs,

vs Index #H-08865

EMPIRE SCALE CORPORATION, JOSEPH NELSON,

BARBARA SCHREIER, COUNTY OF CHAUTAUQUA,

Defendants.

_____________________________________________

DAVID J. RAYMOND, III,

Plaintiff,

vs Index #H-09657

EMPIRE SCALE CORPORATION, JOSEPH L.

NELSON III, BARBARA A. SCHREIER,

COUNTY OF CHAUTAUQUA,

Defendants.

_____________________________________________

VALERIE WRIGHT, as Administratrix

of the Estate of GLEN J. DEL GRECO,

Plaintiff,

vs Index #H-11402

JOSEPH NELSON and BARBARA A. SCHREIER,

Defendants.

_____________________________________________

BURGETT & ROBBINS

(Mary Speedy Hajdu, Esq.

of Counsel) for Plaintiff

Barbara A. Schreier

O'SHEA, REYNOLDS & CUMMINGS

(C. DeForest Cummings, Jr., Esq.

of Counsel) for Defendants

Empire Scale Corporation

and Del Greco

MARK A. WINES, ESQ.

Attorney for

Chautauqua County

DAVID P. FELDMAN, Esq.

Attorney for Plaintiff

Elizabeth Nelson

EDWARD J. KAMYSZ, ESQ.

Attorney for Defendants

Nelson and Schreier

DAVID M. CIVILETTE, ESQ.

Attorney for Plaintiff

David J. Raymond

PEABODY & ARNOLD

(Kevin Cain, Esq.

of Counsel) for Plaintiff

Valerie Wright

DECISION and ORDER

GERACE, J.

Defendant County moves for summary judgment in this

intersection accident claiming that a common sense analysis

of the allegations against the County, its expert's

opinion, and application of the Weiss v Fote Doctrine that

"the King can do no wrong" in the placement of a stop sign

justify dismissal of claims against it.

WeissvFote, 7 NY 2d 579, 200 NYS 2d 409, holds that

a municipality cannot be held liable for discretionary

traffic safety plans formulated after careful study and

analysis.

Without suggesting that application of common sense is

exclusively within the province of the jury, the Court

denies the motion.

Whether Schreier stopped at the stop sign; whether her

view was obstructed by county's parked equipment and

untrimmed foliage at the intersection; whether she stopped

at the intersection at a point beyond the stop sign;

whether the county's placement of the stop sign was

reasonable; are all questions for a jury.

As for visibility, Mr. Richard E. Morey, Deputy County

Highway Superintendent, in his EBT indicated visibility was

obstructed "to some degree. A little bit". This clearly

makes the question one of fact for the jury.

As for placement of the stop sign, the Court cannot

hold, as plaintiffs suggest, that placement of this stop

sign was in violation of the statute or Manual of Uniform

Traffic Control Devices as a matter of law. An excerpt of

the Manual furnished by Counsel (no one provided the Court

with a copy of the Manual)

indicates that a stop sign :

"shall be erected on the right side of the

roadway, at, or as near as possible to, the point

where the vehicle is required to stop. In

general, it shall be placed no more than 15 or 20

feet from the intersecting roadway. It shall not

be placed more than 50 feet from the intersection

roadway. It shall NOT be located on the far side

of T intersections. "

The County placed the stop sign 43 feet from the

intersecting road to permit County snowplows to properly

negotiate a right turn at the intersection. A driver

within 20 feet of the intersection could see for thousands

of feet.

The Court can, and will, leave the question of

reasonableness of the placement of the sign for the jury.

THIS IS THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THIS COURT.

Dated: January , 1996

Mayville, New York

_________________________________

JOSEPH GERACE

Supreme Court Justice

To all Counsel:

Please take notice that a DECISION and ORDER of

which the within is a copy, is duly granted in the above

entitled action on the day of , 1996, and

duly entered in the office of the Clerk of the County of

Chautauqua on the same date.