The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant’s motion for summary judgment should not have been granted in this traffic accident case. Plaintiff’s decedent apparently backed into defendant’s lane of traffic from the median. There was conflicting evidence about defendant’s speed and the distance between decedent’s car and defendant (i.e., there was conflicting evidence about the applicability of the emergency doctrine):
Given the conflicting accounts about the distance and the elapsed time between when decedent’s vehicle moved into defendant’s lane and the collision and defendant’s speed prior to the accident, we conclude that triable issues of fact exist as to whether defendant’s actions, when confronted with an emergency situation, were reasonable and whether he could have taken evasive action to avoid decedent’s vehicle … . We further conclude that there are issues of fact as to whether decedent’s actions, under the circumstances of this case, were not the sole proximate cause of the accident. Accordingly, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, Supreme Court should have denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment … . Brust v McDaniel, 2018 NY Slip Op 04069, Third Dept 6-7-18
NEGLIGENCE (QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT THE APPLICABILITY OF THE EMERGENCY DOCTRINE IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (THIRD DEPT))/TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT THE APPLICABILITY OF THE EMERGENCY DOCTRINE IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (THIRD DEPT))/EMERGENCY DOCTRINE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT THE APPLICABILITY OF THE EMERGENCY DOCTRINE IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (THIRD DEPT))