Bullock v. Calabretta

• Decision Date: 30 July 2014
• Citation: 2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 05502,989 N.Y.S.2d 862,119 A.D.3d 884
• Parties: Jessica BULLOCK, respondent, v. Salvatore G. CALABRETTA, et al., defendants, Mohammad Hassain, et al., appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

119 A.D.3d 884
989 N.Y.S.2d 862
2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 05502

Jessica BULLOCK, respondent,
v.
Salvatore G. CALABRETTA, et al., defendants,
Mohammad Hassain, et al., appellants.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

July 30, 2014.

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, White Plains, N.Y. (Debra A. Adler of counsel), for appellants.

Buckheit & Whelan, P.C., Suffern, N.Y. (Frank A. Whelan of counsel), for respondent.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendants Mohammad Hassain and Summit Cab Corp. appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Martin, J.), dated December 7, 2012, which denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The plaintiff, Jessica Bullock, was a passenger in a vehicle owned and operated by the defendant Salvatore G. Calabretta, when that vehicle made a left turn into an intersection and collided with a taxi cab operated by the defendant Mohammad Hassain and owned by the defendant Summit Cab Corp., which was traveling in the opposite direction.

A driver who has the right-of-way is entitled to anticipate that other motorists will obey traffic laws which require them to yield the right-of-way ( see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141; Todd v. Godek, 71 A.D.3d 872, 872, 895 N.Y.S.2d 861;Kann v. Maggies Paratransit Corp., 63 A.D.3d 792, 793, 882 N.Y.S.2d 129;Palomo v. Pozzi, 57 A.D.3d 498, 498, 869 N.Y.S.2d 153). Furthermore, a driver is negligent when an accident occurs because the driver failed to see that which through proper use of the driver's senses he or she should have seen ( see Todd v. Godek, 71 A.D.3d at 872, 895 N.Y.S.2d 861;Laino v. Lucchese, 35 A.D.3d 672, 672, 827 N.Y.S.2d 249). A driver who has the right-of-way has a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid a collision with another vehicle already in the intersection ( see Todd v. Godek, 71 A.D.3d at 872, 895 N.Y.S.2d 861;Demant v. Rochevet, 43 A.D.3d 981, 981, 842 N.Y.S.2d 74). There can be more than one proximate cause of an accident, and the issue of comparative negligence is generally a question for the jury to decide ( see Bonilla v. Calabria, 80 A.D.3d 720, 720, 915 N.Y.S.2d 615;Todd v. Godek, 71 A.D.3d at 872, 895 N.Y.S.2d 861).

Here, in support of their motion for summary judgment, the movants submitted transcripts of the deposition testimony of, among others, the plaintiff, Calabretta, and Hassain, who...