EVEN THOUGH PLAINTIFF BICYCLIST ADMITTED ROLLING THROUGH A BIKE-PATH STOP SIGN BEFORE ENTERING THE INTERSECTION, THERE REMAINED QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT WHETHER DEFENDANT DRIVER FAILED TO SEE WHAT WAS TO BE SEEN (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant-driver’s motion for summary judgment in this intersection bicycle-car collision case should not have been granted. Although plaintiff-bicyclist acknowledged he did not completely stop at the bike-path stop sign before entering the intersection, there were questions of fact whether defendant driver (Butler) failed to see what was to be seen:

… [P]laintiff’s admission that he came to a “rolling stop” at the stop sign, which amounts to a violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1172 (a) and establishes some degree of fault on his part. Nevertheless, that fact is not dispositive as to whether he was the sole proximate cause of the accident … . To this point, Butler’s testimony suggests that no other vehicles were at the intersection prior to her turning left and that her visibility down the bike path was limited to approximately 20 feet, due in part to a building, trees and bushes obstructing her view. However, our review of the photographs of the intersection contained in the record casts doubt on that account, as a lengthy portion of the bike trail both preceding and after the stop sign located on said trail appears visible from Butler’s vantage point both at the light and after she commenced the left turn. Whether plaintiff should have been visible to Butler is further unresolved by the time frames relative to Butler commencing the turn and the time to impact as well as the varying accounts from plaintiff, Butler and the police report specific as to how far Butler had traveled into the intersection before the collision took place … . Ruberti v Butler, 2024 NY Slip Op 02358, Third Dept 5-2-24

Practice Point: In this intersection bicycle-car collision case, plaintiff-bicyclist’s failure to come to a complete stop at the bike-path stop sign did not establish he was the sole proximate cause of the accident.. There were questions of fact about whether defendant driver failed to see what was there to be seen.