In a short opinion, the First Department in Santo-Perez v. Enterprise Leasing Co. (decided March 26, 2015) reversed summary judgment for defendant driver, even though the pedestrian they hit was outside the crosswalk at the time.
The court wrote:
While the fact that plaintiff was crossing the street on foot outside of the crosswalk, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1152(a), is evidence of negligence on his part, the record presents a triable issue of fact whether defendant Hill, operating a vehicle, contributed to the accident by failing to exercise due care to avoid a collision with plaintiff. Indeed, Hill testified that he saw plaintiff before the collision and had time to activate his horn and move his vehicle to the double line before reducing his speed by half (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146…).