This appeal arose out of the collision of an automobile driven by plaintiff Craig Clementoni and a train operated by the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). The accident occurred at around 6:00 P.M. on September 27, 1994, as plaintiff was driving across a set of railroad tracks at an unmarked grade crossing intersecting a private gravel road owned by defendantsRaymond and Gertrude Skowron in northeast Erie County.

Conrail owned and maintained the tracks and the 50-foot wide right-of-way in which they were centered. The right-of-way was a slightly raised pathway, with paved approaches connecting to the gravel road on either side of the tracks. Defendants Harold M. and Patricia Gardner owned property bordering the right-of-way at the crossing.

Plaintiff sued Conrail, the railroad engineer operating the train, the Skowrons, and the Gardners to recover for his injuries. As relevant to this appeal, plaintiff alleged that the Skowrons negligently failed to warn him of the hazard of oncoming trains by erecting signs, gates, or warning signals at the crossing; he contended that trees and other foliage on the Gardners property obstructed his view of the oncoming train. Defendants moved for summary judgment, which the Supreme Court denied without opinion. The Appellate Division, with two Justices dissenting, reversed the Supreme Courts order, granted the motions, and dismissed the complaint and the cross claims against these defendants.

As a general matter, held the Court of Appeals, a landowner owes no duty to warn or to protect others from a defective or dangerous condition on neighboring premises, unless the landowner has created or contributed to it (citing Galindo v Town of Clarkstown, 2 NY3d 633, 636 [2004]). Here, the grade crossing had existed since at least 1939, long before the Skowrons purchased the property. In Galindo, we left open the possibility that some dangers from neighboring property might be so clearly known to the landowner, though not open or obvious to others, that a duty to warn would arise. The Skowrons, however, had no reason to expect that plaintiff would not observe the hazard or any conceivable risk associated with it.

Plaintiff assumed that the tracks were actively used by Conrails trains. He testified that he stopped and looked in both directions for oncoming trains and proceeded cautiously each time he approached the tracks, which he uneventfully drove across three times on September 27, 1994 before the accident. As for the Gardners, a landowner is generally not liable for the existence of uncut vegetation obstructing the view of motorists at an intersection (see Prosser and Keaton, Torts 57 at 390 [5th ed]).

Comment: This decision actually stands for several interesting propositions of premises liability. Notice that the Skowrons owned the gravel road which intersected with the railroad tracks, and the Gardners owned property adjacent to the grade crossing where vegetation allegedly obscured the view down the tracks. The railroad tracks themselves, however, and the right-of-way (the actual land under the tracks) were owned by Conrail.

So the Skowrons have no liability for failure to erect warnings at the grade crossing because:

It was not actually on their property;

It pre-existed their purchase of the property;

They did not contribute to the condition;

Plaintiff admitted he was aware that trains ran on those tracks.

And the Gardners have no liability for the fact that the vegetation on their property may have obscured a motorists view of the intersection (i.e., of the tracks and the road).

Overall, a very interesting and useful decision, which potentially goes way beyond grade crossing incidents.

Clementoni v Consolidated Rail Corp. et al. 2007 NY Slip Op 03792 (Court of Appeals)