Car accident cases typically involve questions of fact, such as who had the red/green light, who entered the intersection first, whether a driver was looking at their cell phone at the time of impact, etc. – the list goes on and on. This is why it may be difficult for one party to a car…
Read More Questions of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident CaseIn Aycardi v. Robinson, 2015 Slip Op 04249 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 19, 2015), the court addressed the not-uncommon scenario where the plaintiff seeks to hold the employer of an alleged wrongdoer liable under the principle of vicarious liability. In this case, plaintiff pedestrian asserts that she was hit by a car being driven by…
Read More Questions of Fact Regarding Vicarious Liability Preclude Summary Judgment in Car Accident CaseIn Chiara v. Dernago, 2015 NY Slip Op 04444 (2nd Dept. May 27, 2015), the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion under CPLR 4404(a) to set aside a jury verdict in plaintiff’s favor. Here are the facts of this personal injury / car accident case: The evidence at the trial on the…
Read More Court Upholds $70k Punitive Damage Award Against Drunk DriverIn 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…
Read More Rear-Ended Plaintiff Not Entitled to Summary JudgmentUnder New York’s “No Fault” automobile insurance system, first-party no-fault insurance benefits are not available to “occupants” of a motorcycle. But what exactly does it mean to be a motorcycle “occupant”? Consider, for example, the following accident scenario: a motorcycle passenger is ejected from her motorcycle, the motorcycle becomes airborne, and then lands on the…
Read More Ejected Motorcycle Passenger Was “Occupying” the Bike and Hence Not Entitled to First-Party Benefits Under New York’s No-Fault SystemIn Blok v. Mammadov (App. Div. 2nd Dept. March 18, 2015), the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the denial of summary judgment to a pedestrian plaintiff. Here are the facts of this car accident case: While crossing Sheepshead Bay Road at or near its intersection with Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, the plaintiff allegedly was injured…
Read More Struck Pedestrian Not Entitled to Summary JudgmentGothamist has reported that a driver who struck and killed a Harlem sixth grader was apparently operating an Uber-affiliated car. This is what they had to say about this pedestrian car accident case: The victim, Ervi Secundino, was struck at around 3 p.m. [on May 6, 2015] while crossing Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at…
Read More Uber-Affiliated Car Reportedly Kills Harlem BoyIn Bednark v. City of New York (decided April 2, 2015), a bus-related personal injury case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court’s order granting summary judgment to the the defendant City of New York to deny that motion. The facts: Plaintiff was injured when, while disembarking from the rear doors of a…
Read More “Bus Stop” Includes Sidewalk; Summary Judgment to City DeniedIn 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…
Read More Outside-the-Crosswalk Pedestrian Knockdown Case ContinuesOne of the so-called “rules of the road”, New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) § 1142[a], provides: Vehicle entering stop or yield intersection (a) Except when directed to proceed by a police officer, every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop as required by [VTL § 1172] and after having stopped shall yield the…
Read More Defendant’s Failure to Yield at Intersection Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident Case