Emergency Doctrine Warranted Summary Judgment to Defendant Bus Company

The plaintiff, a bus passenger, was injured when the bus stopped quickly and she fell to the floor.  The Transit Authority moved for summary judgment under the emergency doctrine, submitting evidence the bus driver stopped to avoid a collision with a car that cut in front of the bus.  In granting summary judgment, the Second Department described the emergency doctrine as follows:

Through the emergency doctrine, the law recognizes ” that those faced with a sudden and unexpected circumstance, not of their own making, that leaves them with little or no time for reflection or reasonably causes them to be so disturbed that they are compelled to make a quick decision without weighing alternative courses of conduct, may not be negligent if their actions are reasonable and prudent in the context of the emergency’ … .

“Although the existence of an emergency and the reasonableness of the response to it generally present issues of fact for purposes of application of the emergency doctrine …, those issues may in appropriate circumstances be determined as a matter of law” …. Marri v New York City Tr Auth, 2013 NY Slip Op 03065, 2nd Dept, 5-1-13

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