New York

Apellate Division, Second Department Addresses Multi-Vehicle Accident

By Matthew Lerner

In Biddy v. Vanmaltke, the Appellate Division, Second Department held that the defendant driver was not liable regarding a collision of the plaintiff's truck or the one in which the plaintiff was rear-ended by another tractor trailer.  The accident unfolded as follows: The defendant Vanmaltke was driving a minivan in the right lane of the eastbound roadway of the Cross Bronx Expressway, when his car was cut off by a Lincoln Town Car.  Defendant Vanmaltke testified at a deposition that he steered to the left to avoid the Town Car and, in doing so, he contacted a tractor trailer being driven in the center lane by the plaintiff Leon Biddy.  This caused the tractor trailer to veer into the left lane and strike the vehicle that the appellant was driving.  The appellant was driving straight in the left lane.  As the plaintiff Biddy was attempting to stop his truck, he was rear-ended by a tractor trailer.

The Court held: "The evidence presented by the appellants on their motion for summary judgment, including the deposition transcripts of the parties and the police accident report, established, prima facie, that the appellant was not at fault in the happening of the accident and, therefore, could not bear an culpability for the plaintiff's injuries . . . .  There is no proof that the appellant operated his vehicle improperly or engaged in any conduct which helped bring about either the collision between his motor vehicle and the plaintiff's truck or the subsequent rear-end collision involving the two trucks.  Moreover, the appellant was 'in no position to take any steps to either reasonably foresee or avoid' the collision between his automobile and the plaintiff's truck."

Full post as published by New York Civil Law on November 24, 2009 (boomark / email).