PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFFS NEED NOT SHOW THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department determined plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion in this vehicle-pedestrian accident case should have been granted. Plaintiff demonstrated the driver’s (Gorman’s) negligence and was not required to show the absence of comparative negligence:
Plaintiffs commenced this action seeking damages for injuries sustained by Michael Edwards (plaintiff) when he was struck by an ambulance driven by defendant Francine M. Gorman. At the time of the collision, plaintiff, a parking attendant, was tasked with instructing vehicles traveling in a two-lane, one-way “pass-through” road of the entrance loop of Strong Memorial Hospital on how to reach an alternate entrance for a nearby parking garage. Plaintiff was standing in the center of the pass-through road between the two lanes of travel, and Gorman struck him as she was slowing down for a stop sign at the end of the pass-through road. …
… [P]laintiffs were required to establish only that Gorman was negligent and that her negligence was a proximate cause of the accident. We conclude that plaintiffs met that burden by providing photographs, video footage and Gorman’s deposition testimony in which she admitted that she executed a wide turn through multiple lanes of the pass-through road, which constitutes a violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1128 (a) … . In opposition, defendants failed to raise a triable issue of fact … . Although defendants successfully raised triable issues of fact with respect to plaintiff’s negligence, that is of no moment in the context of plaintiffs’ appeal. “To be entitled to partial summary judgment a plaintiff does not bear the double burden of establishing a prima facie case of defendant’s liability and the absence of his or her own comparative fault” … . Edwards v Gorman, 2018 NY Slip Op 04129, Fourth Dept 6-8-18
NEGLIGENCE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFFS NEED NOT SHOW THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFFS NEED NOT SHOW THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/PEDESTRIANS (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFFS NEED NOT SHOW THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFFS NEED NOT SHOW THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT))