Morrison Mahoney partner Paul Tarr recently obtained a summary judgment in Kings County, NY. The action arose out of a motor vehicle accident in Brooklyn. Plaintiff alleged that the collision was due solely to the negligence of the defendants, the truck owner and its driver.
After briefing and oral argument, the Court held that Paul established that there was no triable issue of material fact that the defendants were negligent. The dash-cam video filmed from the defendant’s vehicle demonstrated that plaintiff’s errant driving was the sole proximate cause of the collision. This was further supported by the affidavit of the driver, who stated that his vehicle was struck by plaintiff’s vehicle, the affidavit of an accident reconstruction expert, who analyzed the contents of the dash-cam video and surveyed the accident with a Mavic 2-Pro drone, and the affidavit of the truck’s owner, who ensured a proper chain of custody for the video. In opposition, plaintiff argued that the defendants’ motion was premature because the parties were early in the discovery process. Further, plaintiff argued that summary judgment was not warranted because it was defendant’s vehicle that negligently rear-ended or sideswiped plaintiff’s vehicle which he supported through plaintiff’s affidavit, and further argued that the dashcam video was incomplete.
In reply, Paul maintained that plaintiff’s arguments were speculative and plaintiff’s affidavit in opposition sought to defeat summary judgment by means of a feigned issue of fact. In addition, Paul argued that plaintiff’s prematurity argument failed because in view of the dashcam videotape, there is no non-speculative evidence plaintiff could present that would defeat the facts. The Court was persuaded and granted the summary judgement motion from the bench.
