LEONIDES STERGIOS VS. NEW JERSEY TRANSIT CORP.(L-5478-13, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-4344-14T3

Leonides Stergios was struck by a New Jersey Transit bus after disembarking at a sheltered stop located on Borough-owned parkland adjacent to a narrow one-way street.
The shelter and curb were installed by the Borough’s public works employees; the stop was not an official NJ Transit stop but drivers regularly stopped there as a courtesy.
No sidewalks or guardrails connected the shelter to a nearby parking lot; a hedgerow prevented walking off the curb, forcing pedestrians into the roadway.
As the bus driver pulled forward, he failed to see Stergios and ran a wheel over her leg, causing severe permanent injuries.
Plaintiffs settled claims against NJ Transit and the driver and appealed the grant of summary judgment for Harrington Park Borough under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (TCA).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Borough property condition was a "dangerous condition" under the TCA	Borough-created shelter, curb, hedgerow and lack of pedestrian path created substantial risk to pedestrians using the stop	The condition was not a substantial risk tied to the Borough, or plaintiff’s and driver’s negligence predominates	Reversed: a jury could find the layout created a substantial risk when used reasonably and foreseeably as a commuter stop
Whether Borough had notice and its inaction was palpably unreasonable	Borough should be charged with actual/constructive notice of the shelter, curb, hedgerow and parking lot placement and thus acted unreasonably in failing to mitigate	Even with notice, failure to abate was not "palpably unreasonable" as a matter of law	Reversed: jury could find multiple feasible remediations existed, making inaction palpably unreasonable
Whether Borough’s condition proximately caused the injury (concurrent causation)	Condition was a substantial factor contributing to injury even if driver and plaintiff were negligent	Plaintiff’s and driver’s negligence were the proximate causes absolving Borough	Reversed: concurrent proximate causation doctrine permits liability if Borough’s negligence was a substantial factor

Ogborne v. Mercer Cemetery Corp., 197 N.J. 448 (definition of "dangerous condition")
Kolitch v. Lindedahl, 100 N.J. 485 (standard for "palpably unreasonable" conduct)
Brown v. United States Stove Co., 98 N.J. 155 (concurrent proximate causation—substantial factor test)
Bhagat v. Bhagat, 217 N.J. 22 (summary judgment standard review)
Steinberg v. Sahara Sam's Oasis, LLC, 226 N.J. 344 (appellate standard for reviewing summary judgment)