NISSAN, AS THE LESSOR OF THE VEHICLE, WAS ENTITLED TO DISMISSAL OF THE COMPLAINT IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE PURSUANT TO THE GRAVES AMENDMENT, THE COMPLAINT ALLEGED NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE OR MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION, NISSAN DEFENDANTS DEMONSTRATED THEY DO NOT INSPECT, REPAIR, MAINTAIN OR SERVICE THE VEHICLES THEY LEASE (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined Nissan’s motion to dismiss the complaint in this traffic accident case should have been granted pursuant to the Graves Amendment:

Under the Graves Amendment, in order for recovery to be barred, the owner, or an affiliate of the owner, must be engaged in the trade or business of renting or leasing motor vehicles, and the owner, or its affiliate, must not be negligent … .

Here, the Nissan defendants demonstrated that they were the owners of the subject vehicle and were engaged in the business of renting or leasing motor vehicles… . Additionally, to the extent that the plaintiff’s theory of negligent maintenance or mechanical malfunction was supported by factual allegations, the Nissan defendants established that the allegations were not facts at all through its submissions showing that the Nissan defendants never possess, inspect, repair, maintain, or service the vehicles they lease and that it was the sole responsibility of the lessee of the subject vehicle … to maintain that vehicle … . Cukoviq v Iftikhar, 2019 NY Slip Op 01057, Second Dept 2-13-19