Freeman v. Corbin Ave. Bus Co.
| Decision Date | 07 November 1974 |
| Citation | 360 N.Y.S.2d 662,46 A.D.2d 747 |
| Parties | Eva FREEMAN, etc. of Galloway Freeman, Jr., Deceased, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CORBIN AVENUE BUS COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
J. C. Sable, New York City, for plaintiff-respondent.
H. S. Davis, New York City, for defendants-appellants.
Before NUNEZ, J.P., and KUPFERMAN, MURPHY, STEUER and CAPOZZOLI, JJ.
Judgment entered in the Supreme Court, New York County on March 19, 1974, in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $130,000, unanimously reversed on the law and the facts, and a new trial granted solely on the issue of damages, with costs and disbursements of this appeal to abide the event, unless plaintiff-respondent, within 20 days of service upon her by the defendants-appellants of a copy of the order entered hereon, with notice of entry, serves and files in the Office of the Clerk of the Trial Court, a written stipulation consenting to reduce the verdict to $50,000 and to the entry of an amended judgment in accordance therewith. If plaintiff-respondent consents to the reduction, the judgment, as so amended and reduced, is unanimously affirmed without costs and without disbursements.
On April 26, 1970 plaintiff's decedent was a passenger in a Renault automobile being driven on the Connecticut Turnpike. Appellants' GMC bus was going in the same direction. The record establishes that, after skidding 111 feet, the left front bumper of the bus struck the left rear portion of the Renault. The decedent was thrown from the car and suffered multiple skull fractures resulting in his death at the scene. There was evidence that the driver of the Renault for no apparent reason changed lanes as he was proceeding ahead of the bus. There was also evidence of the presence of a considerable amount of alcohol in the driver's as well as in the decedent's blood. Nonetheless, the issues of negligence and contributory negligence, as well as the effect of the Connecticut statute restricting the use of the left-hand lanes on the Turnpike by motor buses, were properly submitted to the jury, who found for the plaintiff. Their verdict on the issue of liability was not against the weight of the credible evidence. In the circumstances we may not substitute our judgment for that of the jury and, therefore, we affirm.
On damages, however, we conclude that the verdict is excessive. Plaintiff, decedent's wife, testified that she received $50 a...
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Valicenti v. Valenze
...on facts analogous to those of the instant case (Didocha v. State of New York, 54 A.D.2d 786, 387 N.Y.S.2d 752; Freeman v. Corbin Ave. Bus Co., 46 A.D.2d 747, 360 N.Y.S.2d 747). Given the loss by plaintiff and the children of the deceased as a legal source of support, together with her cont......
- Freeman v. Corbin Ave. Bus Co.