New York Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Nora White filed a case against Carlos A. Diaz with Agramonte and Manuel A. Nunez with Atlantic Paratransit. This is in connection to the injuries that she alleges, she suffered in the collision of the vehicles driven by Mr. Diaz and Mr. Nunez. A reporter found out that Ms. White was a passenger in Mr. Nunez’s vehicle as a driver for Access-a-Ride. She just got in the vehicle and was trying to put on her seatbeltthat was stuck when Mr. Diaz’s van hit the Access-a-Ride’s vehicle’s rear. Mr. Diaz admitted that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
On the side of Mr. Nunez, he said that he was double parked when the van rear ended his vehicle. This was in front of Ms. White’s building as he was waiting for her. He said there were no spots at the curb, and he was not able to find the entrance to the building’s parking lot. In his testimony at the deposition, a witness said, he was allegedly only there for about five minutes with the hazard lights on before Ms. White arrived. This was different from the testimony of Ms. White, that she was standing at the building’s entrance waiting when the van arrived, and that she immediately got in.
A source explained why the defendants consist not only of the driver’s but the companies that owned the vehicles. In New York, a person or a company that has given authority to another for the use if their vehicle is liable for any negligence of the driver while driving their vehicle. This does not apply in all States, but it is the one that is applied in New York.
Mr. Nunez and Atlantic Paratransit moved for a summary dismissal of the case against them with the argument that their vehicle was at a stop when the van hit the rear. They stated that the accident was caused by Mr. Diaz alone. They further stated that their car being in the travelling lane should be seen as just an occasion or condition for the accident. According to a report, there are different decisions with this type of defense. The Court of Appeals had seen them differently depending on the situation. The conclusion in the cases also differed. The closest that they found was in the case of Sheehan vs. City of New York. The accident happened to a bus that was in a gradual stop at the intersection on East 138th Street in Bronx. The bus unloaded passengers there instead of at the curb because the driver said there were cars parked there. A sanitation truck with defective breaks hit the rear of the bus. In this case, the court ruled that the bus being there was just a condition. They reasoned that even if the bus pulled over at the curve and moved toward the intersection after, they could still have been hit. The failure of the break can be considered as the only cause of the accident.
In this case, the court ruled that it is for the jury to decide. Their reason is that with Mr. Diaz sleeping behind the wheel, you could already foresee that he can hit something or someone. With the double parking of Mr. Nunez, you can also predict that he could be hit in the rear of his car by a careless driver. A careful driver may be able to stop and avoid him but not everyone is careful. The double parking can easily be seen as the cause of the accident as the sleeping behind the wheel. Another reason to deny the dispute is the issue was the claim of Ms. White that the seatbelt was stuck, which was the reason she was not able to put it on. The petition for a summary dismissal was denied by the court.
The carelessness of people can injure another, but sometimes their negligence is not part of the injury but mere incidental. In any situation though, there is always someone who is injured or who has incurred damages. The job of protecting the injured party falls on New York Auto Accident Lawyers who help the court see all the relevant evidence and decide on how the case should be handled.
Auto Accident Lawyers who will go through your case with a fine-tooth comb are at Stephen Bilkis & Associates. There is no detail that will be left unchecked when we handle your case. If you are a party in a vehicle accident, whether directly or indirectly you can walk in any of our offices in New York and consult us. If the accident was severe and caused the death of a family, we also have Probate Lawyers who can assist you. You can set an appointment with us at 1-800 NY – NY- LAW.