NY state found liable for MVA that wrecked barn

A New York State Court of Claims judge has found the state fully liable for the damage to a barn caused by a worker who drove a truck into the building.

About 9 a.m., Jan. 17, 2020, in Orange County, Bevon Trail, who worked for the state Department of Corrections and Community Service, was driving the truck that went off the road and crashed into the building owned by James De Mattei.

A trial on the issue of liability was held on March 11, via Microsoft Teams.

Attorneys for the state denied all the allegations of damages and asserted that De Mattei’s own actions caused the damages, and that the state is immune from liability, according to the decision of Judge Linda K. Mejias-Glover.

De Mattei testified that, on the day of the incident, he was in his house and heard a loud noise outside between 9 and 9:30 a.m. He went outside and saw that his barn was destroyed, and the truck driven by Trail had come to rest against a tree about 100 feet from the barn.

Paul Siegel, who was driving a vehicle behind Trail before the crash, testified that both vehicles were travelling 50 miles per hour. He testified that he saw the truck veer right two or three times, then drove into a ditch and then sideways across the road, hitting a mailbox. After hitting the mailbox, the truck turned into the shed, he said.

After the crash, Siegel ran to the truck and Trail still had his foot on the gas, so he reached into the truck, shut the truck off, and helped Trail out of the vehicle.

Siegel testified that Trail was “out of it” and he “couldn’t really understand much of what he had to say.”

Trail testified that he was traveling about 40 miles per hour at the time of the accident, which was under the legal speed limit. He said he was having difficulty driving due to the gusting winds.

“He testified that the wind was pushing the truck on the right side and was so strong it shoved him off the road,” according to the decision.

Trail claimed he was trying to slow the truck down when it was being pushed off the road.

“Trail testified that when the wind was pushing his truck on the right, he was trying to correct it back into the road, but then the wind pushed it into the banking then it went into the woods, hit some trees and a shed,” according to the decision.

“Trail testified that he took evasive actions to avoid driving off the road and believed that it was the wind that caused the truck to go off the road,” according to the decision.

But Mejias-Glover ruled that Trail “did not exercise due care in operating the box truck given the circumstances.”

“The Court heard no credible testimony that defendant’s employee exercised due care while operating the box truck, while driving in allegedly windy conditions,” she wrote.

“Though Mr. Trail testified that he experienced on three separate occasions that the wind was strong, he did not provide any credible testimony that he pulled over to the side of the road or that he travelled at a reduced speed. While it is certainly true that no state employee has control over the weather, the basis of the claim is not failing to control the weather but failing to control the truck,” she wrote.

“Here, it is irrefutable that Mr. Trail negligently failed to control the box truck he was operating and failed to take appropriate measures to avoid losing such control given the conditions. His testimony that the wind changed direction is not credible,” Mejias-Glover wrote.

She found the state “solely and completely liable for the damages to claimant’s property.”

A trial to determine damages will be scheduled.

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