Rear-Ended Plaintiff Not Entitled to Summary Judgment

In Geralds v. Damiano, 2015 NY Slip Op 04380 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 21, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to plaintiff. In this personal injury / motor vehicle accident /rear-end collision case:

Plaintiff was injured when he was struck by a truck owned by defendant New York City Department of Sanitation and operated by defendant Salvatore Damiano. Plaintiff alleges that he stopped his vehicle on the side of the road at the Arden Avenue/Muldoon Avenue Exit Ramp off West Shore Expressway to inspect a hitch connecting a trailer he was hauling to the vehicle he was driving. Defendants’ vehicle rear-ended the trailer, pushing the trailer into plaintiff and his vehicle.

However, plaintiff was not entitled to summary judgment.

The record shows that there is conflicting evidence regarding whether plaintiff was stopped on the shoulder or in an active traffic lane, in violation of 34 RCNY § 4-08(e)(1), and whether the hazard lights on the trailer were engaged. Under these circumstances, issues of fact exist regarding plaintiff’s comparative negligence and whether his acts also proximately caused the accident. Because of these factual issues, summary judgment in plaintiff’s favor is not warranted.

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