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​ DEFENDANT DEMONSTRATED PLAINTIFF CAUSED THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT BY MAKING AN UNREASONABLE LEFT TURN IN VIOLATION OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (NEGLIGENCE PER SE); THE COURT MAY DETERMINE THE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT AT THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT STAGE AS A MATTER OF LAW IF ONLY ONE CONCLUSION CAN BE DRAWN FROM THE FACTS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant in this traffic accident case demonstrated plaintiff violated the Vehicle and Traffic Law by unreasonably making a left turn, which constitutes negligence per se:

… [T]he defendant established her prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint by submitting evidence that the plaintiff’s conduct in making a left turn directly into the path of the defendant’s vehicle without yielding the right-of-way to the defendant, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141, and when it was not reasonably safe to make a left turn, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1163(a), was the sole proximate cause of the accident … . The issue of proximate cause may be decided as a matter of law where, as here, only one conclusion may be drawn from the established facts … . Lylan Pham v Lee, 2023 NY Slip Op 04200, Second Dept 8-9-23

Practice Point: Causing a traffic accident by making an unreasonable left turn into defendant’s lane of traffic in violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law is negligence per se.

Practice Point: A judge at the summary judgment stage can determine the proximate cause of a traffic accident as a matter of law if there is only one conclusion which can be drawn from the facts.

 

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