COUNTY FAILED TO OFFER A NON-NEGLIGENT EXPLANATION FOR COLLISION
Rear-ended by a bus owned by Suffolk County, SF commenced a personal injury case. And after a motion for summary judgment -- requesting pretrial relief in her favor -- was made, the Suffolk County Supreme Court ended up finding the County liable for the incident and dismissed its “comparative negligence” defense.
On its review, the Appellate Division, Second Department, noted that because the collision occurred while SF was stopped, that presented “a prima facie case of negligence” on the bus operator’s part. It was then incumbent upon the County to present a “nonnegligent explanation for the collision.” In the absence of such a showing, the AD2 agreed that the County had failed to raise a “triable issue of fact,” and thus affirmed the relief granted in SF’s favor.
Did the County miss the bus there?
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DECISION