In A Bicycle Action, Second Department Reverses Trial Court’s Decision To Grant Summary Judgment To Defendants
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appealed from an Order that had granted the defendants summary judgment dismissing the Complaint.
The Second Department reversed the trial Court’s decision.
While plaintiff was riding the bicycle in a dedicated Manhattan bicycle lane, defendant Lall struck her while driving co-defendant’s truck.
“The plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries, alleging that the defendants were negligent in the ownership and operation of their vehicle”.
The Appellate Court reversed the lower Court’s decision in defendants’ favor. “The defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that they were free from fault in the happening of the accident , because their submissions in support of the motion contained conflicting accounts of how the accident happened and raised triable issues of fact as to whether the defendant driver violated Vehicle and Traffic Law §1146 by failing to exercise due care to avoid the collision with the plaintiff”.
Thus, this failure, premised on the conflicting accounts, led to a reversal regardless of the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s opposing papers.