DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that defendant driver’s testimony in a deposition, which contradicted the accident report and the MV-104 form, did not create a question of fact and plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in this traffic accident case should have been granted. The accident report and MV-104 form indicated defendant driver was in the process of making a left turn when plaintiff, who was in the oncoming lane, collided with defendant. In the deposition, defendant testified he had not yet started to turn when the accident happened:

Pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141, the operator of a vehicle intending to turn left within an intersection must yield the right-of-way to any oncoming vehicle which is within the intersection or so close to it as to constitute an immediate hazard … . A violation of this statute constitutes negligence per se … . The operator of an oncoming vehicle with the right-of-way is entitled to assume that the opposing operator will yield in compliance with the Vehicle and Traffic Law … .

Here, the plaintiff established his prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that the defendant driver violated Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141 when he made a left turn directly into the path of the plaintiff’s scooter when it was not reasonably safe to do so, and that this violation was the sole proximate cause of the accident … . In opposition to the motion, the defendants failed to raise a triable issue of fact. The defendant driver testified at his deposition that, at the time of the occurrence, his taxi had not entered the intersection, was stopped, and was facing straight ahead. This testimony reflects a belated attempt to avoid the consequences of his earlier admissions in the police accident report and the MV-104 accident report that he was in the process of making a left turn, by raising a feigned issue of fact which was insufficient to defeat the motion … . In particular, the MV-104 form, which was prepared and signed by the defendant, expressly stated that the defendant was proceeding to make a left turn onto eastbound Park Avenue when the collision occurred. Lebron v Mensah, 2018 NY Slip Op 03521, Second Dept 5-16-18

​NEGLIGENCE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (ILLEGAL LEFT TURN, DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/EVIDENCE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/SUMMARY JUDGMENT (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, DEFENDANT DRIVER’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY, WHICH CONTRADICTED THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND MV-104 FORM, DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))