QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE POLICE OFFICER ACTED IN RECKLESS DISREGARD FOR THE SAFETY OF OTHERS WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A U-TURN TO PURSUE A VEHICLE AND STRUCK PLAINTIFF’S CAR (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants in this police-car traffic accident case did not demonstrate the defendant officer (Hughes) did not act with reckless disregard for the safety for the safety of others when he attempted a U-turn and struck plaintiff’s car:

“Conduct exempted from the rules of the road by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(b) includes disregarding regulations governing the direction of movement or turning in “specified directions” … . Here, the defendants established, prima facie, that Hughes’s conduct in attempting to execute a U-turn to pursue a suspected violator of the law was exempted from the rules of the road by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(b)(4), and that, as a result, his conduct was governed by the reckless disregard standard of care in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(e) … .

… The reckless disregard standard “requires evidence that ‘the actor has intentionally done an act of an unreasonable character in disregard of a known or obvious risk that was so great as to make it highly probable that harm would follow’ and has done so with conscious indifference to the outcome” … . …  Hughes testified that after the offending vehicle passed him, he took his eyes off the road and looked into his left side mirror to see the offending vehicle’s license plate number. When he resumed looking straight ahead, the plaintiff’s vehicle was less than half a car length in front of him. Although Hughes testified that he applied the brakes once he saw the plaintiff’s vehicle, the plaintiff testified that the collision occurred when Hughes turned sharply into the path of the plaintiff’s vehicle and then accelerated. … Hughes did not activate his turn signal, lights, or siren before he started the U-turn. … [D]efendants’ submissions presented a triable issue of fact as to whether Hughes was reckless in attempting to make a U-turn without taking precautionary measures to avoid causing harm to others … . Bourdierd v City of Yonkers, 2023 NY Slip Op 00981, Second Dept 2-22-23

Practice Point: The evidence that the police officer took his eyes off the road in front of him before attempting a U-turn and striking plaintiff’s car raised a question of fact whether the officer acted in reckless disregard of the safety of others (Vehicle & Traffic Law 1104).