Motor Vehicle Accidents

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In Miller v. City of New York, a car accident case decided April 16, 2014, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the lower court’s decision denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and held that they were entitled to dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint and all claims against them. This is a long way of saying “plaintiffs lose.”…

Read More Traffic Agent’s Alleged Negligent Acts Were “Discretionary”, Precluding Liability in Car Accident Case
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In Ferrara v. Middleton, the Appellate Division, First Department recently held that plaintiff raised an issue of fact as to whether he satisfied the “serious injury” threshold of New York’s “No Fault Law” sufficient to defeat defendants’ motion for summary judgment.  Defendants met their initial burden on summary judgment: Defendants established prima facie that plaintiff did…

Read More Plaintiff Raises Fact Issue as to Whether Shoulder Injury Constitutes a “Serious Injury” Under the No-Fault Law
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The Supreme Court, Nassau County recently held, in Gbajumo v. Mecchella, that the plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment in a rear-end car accident case. The facts: [P]laintiff had entered the Long Island Expressway eastbound, and had been traveling in the right lane for about 100 tcct (5 car lengths) when the accident occurred. Defendant testified that:…

Read More Rear-Ended Plaintiff Awarded Summary Judgment in Car Accident Case
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In Luna v New York City Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department reinstated a $1 million jury award for the plaintiff who was injured after falling on defendant NYCTA’s bus. The jury awarded plaintiff $500,000 for past pain and suffering and $500,000 for future pain and suffering over 34 years. The trial court (Supreme Court, Bronx…

Read More Court Reinstates $1 Million Jury Award for City Bus Passenger
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In Joplin v. City of New York, the First Department unanimously reversed the trial court’s decision which granted defendants’ motion to renew plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability and, upon renewal, denied plaintiff’s motion. Initially, the trial court “granted plaintiff’s motion based on the undisputed evidence that plaintiff’s car was stopped at…

Read More Trial Court Should Have Denied Defendant’s Renewal Motion in Rear-End Collision Case
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Recently, in Pichardo v. Fernandez, the Supreme Court, New York County denied a motion for summary judgment filed by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and the driver of a City bus involved in an accident. Plaintiff was a passenger on a NYCTA bus when it was struck from behind by a car driven and…

Read More Bus Passenger’s Personal Injury Case Continues, Where Protruding Bus Was Rear-Ended
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In Swift v. New York Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department modified the trial court’s order to deny defendant’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss plaintiff’s claims of “permanent consequential and significant limitations in use of the knees and a 90/180-day injury.” In order to proceed in court, plaintiff was required to present evidence…

Read More Plaintiff Raises Triable Issue of Fact that Knee Injury Was a “Serious Injury” Under Insurance Law 5102(d)
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In Johnson v. KS Transportation, a car accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that plaintiff did not suffer a “serious injury” within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102(d). Section 5104(a) of New York’s No-Fault Law provides, in pertinent part, that “in any action by or…

Read More Fact Issue as to Whether Knee Injury Meets “Serious Injury” Threshold Precludes Summary Judgment for Defendant in Car Accident Case
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Personal injury lawsuits arising from car accidents are quite common, and liability is typically determined by assessing whether the defendant (often a driver) behaved negligently – that is, by failing to exercise that degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would have used under the same circumstances. As recently illustrated in the Second Department’s…

Read More Pedestrian Injured by Police Car Presents Sufficient Evidence to Overcome Summary Judgment
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In Krajniak v. Jin Y Trading, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a summary judgment for plaintiff on the issue of liability  in a car accident case, due to the defendant’s violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141. The statute provides. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an…

Read More Unsafe Left Turn Results in Proper Award of Summary Judgment to Plaintiff in Car Accident Case
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