The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed against the City of Niagara Falls by a motorcyclist hurt when his bike crashed after striking a pothole.
The crash occurred May 12, 2009, on Buffalo Avenue near Hyde Park Boulevard, court papers said.
Richard F. Christy Jr., of Cudaback Avenue, was ejected from his motorcycle, but he can’t win a liability case because there was no evidence that the particular pothole he struck had been reported to the city, the five-judge panel said.
The City Charter says the city has no liability for unreported dangerous conditions.
The appellate judges overturned a ruling in 2011 by State Supreme Court Justice Catherine R. Nugent Panepinto that the case should not be thrown out.
Christy’s attorney, Charles S. Desmond II, also argued that the city’s method of patching potholes was inadequate, but the court ruled there was no proof the dangerous conditions immediately resulted from the repairs.
The crash occurred May 12, 2009, on Buffalo Avenue near Hyde Park Boulevard, court papers said.
Richard F. Christy Jr., of Cudaback Avenue, was ejected from his motorcycle, but he can’t win a liability case because there was no evidence that the particular pothole he struck had been reported to the city, the five-judge panel said.
The City Charter says the city has no liability for unreported dangerous conditions.
The appellate judges overturned a ruling in 2011 by State Supreme Court Justice Catherine R. Nugent Panepinto that the case should not be thrown out.
Christy’s attorney, Charles S. Desmond II, also argued that the city’s method of patching potholes was inadequate, but the court ruled there was no proof the dangerous conditions immediately resulted from the repairs.