Case Results
Gordon & Silber Obtains Summary Judgment in a Motor Vehicle Head-On Collision Case it was Claimed our Insured was Over the Centerline - July 2009
Type of Case: Motor Vehicle.
Venue: Appellate Division, Third Department.
Background Facts: The 16-year old plaintiff was operating a Chrysler LeBaron which was in a head-on collision with a school bus owned and operated by the firm's clients. The accident occurred on a sparsely-used road in rural Sullivan County. The plaintiff had to be flown by helicopter from the accident to the closest hospital, and the plaintiffs' vehicle was totaled. Two state troopers, in addition to local police, investigated the accident.
Our Strategy: In addition to retaining a motor vehicle safety expert who concluded from his investigation that the plaintiffs' car, not the bus, was over the center of the roadway, we used the non-party testimony of the two state troopers who investigated the accident and their conclusions from their analysis of gouge marks in the roadway that it was the plaintiffs' car which was over center. We also undermined the friend's claim that he observed the bus over the centerline by his deposition testimony, that at the moment of impact he had been looking down at the car's audio system to change a tape or CD. Clearly, if he had witnessed the oncoming bus over the centerline he would not have been worried about what was playing on the stereo. We also attacked plaintiff's expert affidavit was being procedurally defective since it was not sworn as it was merely presented in the form of a letter to the plaintiffs' attorneys.
Special Problems: Although the 16 year-old plaintiff claimed to have no recollection of the accident (due to amnesia), his passenger, a high school classmate and lifelong friend, recalled the accident and gave a statement to an investigator that the bus was "over"
the invisible median on the unmarked roadway. The plaintiff's injuries were severe, including alleged traumatic brain injury and numerous plate and rod insertions in the left femur, right ankle and jaw.
Result: The trial court granted our motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against the bus company and bus driver. On appeal to the Appellate Division, Third Department, the Court affirmed the decision.
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