The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this slip and fall case should not have been granted. Plaintiff was jogging when she tripped over a raised edge of a depression in the roadway. The defect was surrounded by orange markings:
The evidence demonstrated that [defendant] was in the process of restoring the excavated area in the location of the plaintiff’s accident and that the alleged defective condition measured approximately four-feet wide, eight-feet long, and at least one-inch deep. …
… A “condition that is ordinarily apparent to a person making reasonable use of his or her senses may be rendered a trap for the unwary where the condition is obscured or the plaintiff is distracted'” … . Furthermore, “proof that a dangerous condition is open and obvious does not preclude a finding of liability . . . but is relevant to the issue of the plaintiff’s comparative negligence” … . “Thus, to obtain summary judgment, a defendant must establish that a condition was both open and obvious and, as a matter of law, was not inherently dangerous” … . Here, the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that the alleged defect was open and obvious and not inherently dangerous given the surrounding circumstances at the time of the accident … . Finally … , the doctrine of primary assumption of risk is inapplicable to this action … . Karpel v National Grid Generation, LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 05651, Second Dept 7-17-19