Dalton v. United States, 12-CV-506 (NGG) (JO)

• Decision Date: 31 December 2014
• Docket Number: 12-CV-506 (NGG) (JO)
• Parties: MICHAEL DALTON as ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF AILEEN McKAY-DALTON and MICHAEL DALTON, Individually, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

MICHAEL DALTON as ADMINISTRATOROF THE ESTATE OF AILEEN McKAY-DALTONand MICHAEL DALTON, Individually, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant.

12-CV-506 (NGG) (JO)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

December 31, 2014

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS, United States District Judge.

PlaintiffMichael Dalton filed suit against Defendant United States of America, pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b)and2671, et seq., for the alleged wrongful death of his late wife, Aileen McKay-Dalton.(Compl. (Dkt. 1).)McKay-Dalton died as a result of injuries she sustained in a July 8, 2010, motor vehicle accident.Plaintiff alleges that federal agent Joel Loudon Murphy, who was driving the vehicle that collided with McKay-Dalton's Vespa scooter, was negligent in his operation thereof, causing the accident.(Id.)On December 15, 2014, through December 18, 2014, the court held the first portion of a bench trial, limited to the issue of liability.After considering the evidence put forth at trial, and having reviewed the parties' post-trial briefing on this issue, the court now states the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure52(a).¹

I.FINDINGS OF FACT

The tragic accident that is the subject of this case occurred at approximately 5:25 p.m., on July 8, 2010, at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and DeKalb Avenue, in Brooklyn, New York.It was summer, the weather was clear, and it was light out.(Bench Trial Tr. ("Tr")at 32-33, 200.)

A.The Intersection²

Clinton Avenue is a two-way, two-lane roadway.Traffic travels both northbound and southbound, divided by a double-yellow line.(Tr. 60, 265.)There are parked cars on both sides of Clinton Avenue.(Tr. 265.)DeKalb Avenue is a one-way street, with traffic travelling westbound only.(Tr. 60, 265.)There are parked cars on both sides of DeKalb Avenue (Tr. 265; Def.'s Ex. S), and a bicycle lane just to the right of the left parking lane (i.e., closer to the south side of the street).(Def.'s Ex. S.)

Vehicular traffic at the intersection of Clinton and DeKalb Avenues is controlled by a three-phase (green/yellow/red) traffic signal light for all traffic going north- and southbound on Clinton as well as westbound on DeKalb.(Tr. 60.)There are also pedestrian lights at the corners of the intersection.(Tr. 265.)The traffic control lights were operating properly at the time of the accident.(Tr. 71, 87.)

There are crosswalks at all four corners of the intersection.(Tr. 60; Def.'s Ex. D; Def.'s Ex. S.)On Clinton, as traffic proceeds from south of the intersection, north towards the intersection, there is a stop line several feet south of the south edge of the south crosswalk.(See Def.'s Ex. D; Def.'s Ex. E.)On DeKalb, as traffic proceeds from east of the intersection, west towards the intersection, there is a stop line several feet east of the east edge of the east crosswalk.(See Def.'s Ex. D; Def.'s Ex. E.)On the east side of Clinton, it is approximately 44 feet from the south side of the intersection to the north side thereof, with "intersection" defined as the inner area between the closest boundaries of the crosswalks.In other words, it isapproximately 44 feet between the northernmost line of the south crosswalk and the southernmost line of the north crosswalk.(Tr. 270.)

If a person were standing to the east of the intersection, on DeKalb Avenue, just to the left of a car parked in the right parking lane (i.e., on the driver's side of the car), it would be possible to see the color of the traffic lights that control westbound vehicular traffic on DeKalb.However, from that position, during daylight hours, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to see the color of the traffic lights that control northbound and southbound traffic on Clinton Avenue.The court made this observation during its December 18, 2014, site visit to the vicinity of the intersection.Seesupra note 2.(See alsoTr. 291-92.)On a summer afternoon at approximately 5:25 p.m., looking from the northeast to southwest, into the sun, this certainly would be impossible.

B.The Collision

On July 8, 2010, near the time of the accident, Special Agent Joel Loudon Murphy was operating a black Ford Explorer(the "SUV") near the intersection.He was driving northbound on Clinton Avenue, toward the intersection.³Decedent Aileen McKay-Dalton was operating a powder blue Vespa scooter near the intersection.She was driving westbound on DeKalb Avenue, toward the intersection.The accident occurred when McKay-Dalton and Murphy both entered the intersection—McKay-Dalton, coming from the east, and Murphy, coming from the south—and collided in the east half of the intersection.(SeeTr. 194, 270.)

There is a dispute between the Government's expert and Plaintiff's expert with respect to the north/south position of the vehicles' point of impact.The Government's expert, Dr. MatthewKaplan, testified that the point of impact occurred approximately halfway between the interior north/south boundaries of the crosswalks.(Tr. 270.)Plaintiff's expert, William FitzPatrick, contended that the point of impact occurred approximately 10 feet to the south of where Dr. Kaplan had placed it.(Tr. 464-65.)The court credits Dr. Kaplan's testimony over that of Mr. FitzPatrick for several reasons, including testimony by eyewitness Camila Crazut that the collision occurred in front of her, in the northeast quadrant of the intersection (seeTr. 193-94); testimony by two credible eyewitnesses that the Vespa, when stopped at the DeKalb Avenue traffic light, was closer to the north side of the street than the south side (seeTr. 132-33(Elesh), 216 (Stephens)); and the court's determination, discussed at length below, that Dr. Kaplan's expert opinions are more reliable than those of Mr. FitzPatrick.⁴SeeinfraPart I.F.1.

The front of McKay-Dalton's Vespa collided with the front passenger side of Murphy's SUV, forward of the SUV's passenger doors, on the right side of the frame.⁵(Tr. 64, 84, 85-87;Pl.'s Ex. Fat 256, 259;see also Pl.'s Ex. S at DALTON_USA_000028 (noting damage to the Vespa's front axle).)McKay-Dalton was thrown off of the Vespa.(Tr. 193, 208, 212.)She hit the windshield of the SUV (Pl.'s Ex. Fat 256; Pl.'s Ex. S at DALTON_USA_000028;Tr. 64), and she flew north on Clinton, where she landed on the roadway, on the north side of the intersection.(Tr. 208, 212.)The Vespa also came to rest on Clinton Avenue, north of the northern crosswalk by less than one car's length.(Tr. 65-66, 101-03;Pl.'s Ex. Fat 247, 251.)McKay-Dalton likely landed approximately one car length's north of the Vespa.(Tr. 104;Pl.'s Ex. Fat 247.)The SUV also came to rest on the north side of the intersection (Pl.'s Ex. C),although it is unclear precisely where the SUV came to rest, as it was moved to facilitate emergency vehicles.(Tr. 66-67.)McKay-Dalton died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident.(Joint Pretrial Order(Dkt. 63) ¶ 7(d), at 4.)

C.Sequencing of Traffic and Pedestrian Signals

The vehicular traffic lights at the intersection at issue operate on a 60-second cycle.Starting at zero, the traffic light for Clinton Avenue turns green, and it remains green for 19 seconds.It is then yellow for 3 seconds, and, finally, red for 38 seconds (for a total of 60 seconds).(Tr. 274-75; Def.'s Ex. U; Def.'s Ex. Y.)The corresponding traffic light for DeKalb Avenue is red for the 19 seconds that the light on Clinton is green.DeKalb remains red for the 3 seconds of Clinton's yellow and for an additional 2 seconds after the Clinton light turns red.In other words, the vehicular traffic lights are red in all directions—called an "all red"—for 2 seconds of the cycle.(Tr. 274-75; Def.'s Ex. U; Def.'s Ex. Y.)Then, at second 24 in the cycle, the traffic light on DeKalb turns to green.⁶Accordingly, once the traffic light for northbound vehicular traffic on Clinton turns yellow, there is a period of 5 seconds before the traffic light for westbound vehicular traffic on DeKalb turns green.(Tr. 274-75; Def.'s Ex. U; Def.'s Ex. Y.)

The pedestrian lights are coordinated with the traffic lights.They also operate on a 60-second cycle; however, their phases occur at different points within that cycle.(Tr. 277; Def.'s Ex. V; Def.'s Ex. Y.)Pedestrians on Clinton Avenue, crossing DeKalb, receive a solid white signal (a white person) at the same time the vehicular traffic light for Clinton turns green.The pedestrian light remains a white person for the first 7 seconds of the green traffic light.Then, for the next 12 seconds, while the vehicular traffic light remains green, the pedestrian signal turns to and remains a blinking red hand.(Tr. 277; Def.'s Ex. V; Def.'s Ex. Y.)At second 19, at thesame time the vehicular traffic light turns yellow, the pedestrian light changes from a blinking red hand to a solid red hand.The pedestrian light remains a solid red hand for the 3 seconds of the yellow traffic light and then throughout the entire red traffic light.(Tr. 277; Def.'s Ex. V; Def.'s Ex. Y.)This means that the Clinton Avenue pedestrian signal becomes and remains a solid red hand for a total of 5 seconds before the traffic light for westbound vehicular traffic on DeKalb Avenue turns green.(Tr. 277; Def.'s Ex. V; Def.'s Ex. Y.)

D. Joel Loudon Murphy

1.Background

Special Agent Murphy chose to go into government service after working for some period of time at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.(SeeTr. 11.)When first accepted into government service, he spent "approximately more than a half year" at a training academy in Georgia, preparing for work as a criminal investigator.(Tr. 11.)The training was all-inclusive and fairly extensive.(Tr. 11.)He learned at the training academy that when performing investigative work, one must be aware of one's surroundings, observe what is going on, and...