When a condition on a piece of land is open, obvious, and not inherently dangerous, land owners will not be held liable for any injuries arising from that condition.

In Pandolfini v City of New York, the plaintiff was on her way to a soccer game at her daughter’s school when she was injured while walking down a hill covered with numerous raised and exposed tree roots.  Plaintiff testified that she did not see any dangerous conditions when she started walking down the hill, but that after her fall, she saw that the hill was uneven with roots or trees.  She alleged that defendants were negligent in failing to make the entrance to the soccer game safe for the general public.  Defendants moved for summary judgment.

The custodial engineer for the school testified that he was aware of the exposed roots, but there had been no prior accidents or complaints about the hill.  An official from soccer league testified that people he had occasionally seen people using the same hill to enter the soccer field, but had not received any complaints about the topography.  Lastly, the school’s principal submitted an affidavit attesting to the fact that the school was not in possession of any prior incident or accident reports regarding the subject hill, and that she had no personal knowledge of any complaints regarding the area where plaintiff fell.

In granting defendants’ motions, the Court found that the land owners had no duty to warn against conditions on their land that could be readily observed by the use of one’s own senses.  The Court found that the exposed tree roots on the hill were not a hidden dangerous or defective condition, but instead were a condition inherent to the nature of the property that could reasonably anticipated by anyone using the hill.

Thanks to Sheree Fitzgerald for her contribution.

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