| Lowhar-Lewis v Metropolitan Transp. Auth. |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 05615 [97 AD3d 728] |
| July 18, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Elizabeth Lowhar-Lewis, Respondent, v MetropolitanTransportation Authority et al., Appellants, et al., Defendant. |
—[*1] Michael D. Hassin, Rockville Centre, N.Y. (Randall A. Sorscher of counsel),for respondent.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendants MetropolitanTransportation Authority and MTA Bus Company appeal from an order of the Supreme Court,Queens County (Strauss, J.), entered September 16, 2011, which denied their motion forsummary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff commenced this action after she allegedly was injured when the bus on whichshe was a passenger stopped suddenly, causing her to fall. The bus driver testified at hisdeposition that he was in heavy traffic "at least a car length" behind a passenger car, when the carstopped suddenly in an intersection, although the light was green. The bus driver, who testifiedthat the bus had been traveling at "probably less than 15" miles per hour, applied the brake andstopped the bus immediately. He was able to avoid colliding with the car, which then made a leftturn without having signaled. The defendants Metropolitan Transportation Authority and MTABus Company (hereinafter together the defendants) moved for summary judgment dismissing thecomplaint insofar as asserted against them. The Supreme Court denied the motion, finding theexistence of triable issues of fact.
To establish prima facie that a common carrier was negligent in the stop of a bus, a plaintiffmust prove that the stop was " 'unusual and violent,' " rather than merely of the sort of "jerks andjolts commonly experienced in city bus travel" (Urquhart v New York City Tr. Auth., 85NY2d 828, 830 [1995], quoting Trudell v New York R.T. Corp., 281 NY 82, 85 [1939];see Black v County of Dutchess, 87AD3d 1097, 1098 [2011]). Moreover, a plaintiff may not satisfy that burden of proof merelyby characterizing the stop as unusual and violent (see Urquhart v New York City Tr.Auth., 85 NY2d at 829-830; Burkev MTA Bus Co., 95 AD3d 813 [2012]; Gioulis v MTA Bus Co., 94 AD3d 811, 812 [2012]). In seekingsummary judgment dismissing the complaint, however, common carriers have the burden ofestablishing prima facie that the stop was not unusual and violent (see Burke v MTA Bus Co., 95 AD3d813 [2012]; Guadalupe v New YorkCity Tr. Auth., 91 AD3d 716, 717 [2012]; Black v County of Dutchess, 87AD3d at 1098-1099). Here, in support of their motion, the defendants submitted, among otherthings, the bus driver's deposition testimony. According to the bus driver, the bus may have been[*2]traveling as fast as 15 miles per hour and as little as one carlength behind the car before the car stopped suddenly. He further testified that the bus stoppedimmediately when he applied the brake. That testimony itself demonstrated the existence of atriable issue of fact as to whether the stop of the bus was unusual and violent (see Urquhart vNew York City Tr. Auth., 85 NY2d at 830; Black v County of Dutchess, 87 AD3d at1098-1099).
The defendants assert that they are nonetheless entitled to summary judgment under the"emergency doctrine" (Rivera v New York City Tr. Auth., 77 NY2d 322, 326 [1991]). Bythis doctrine, our law recognizes "that those faced with a sudden and unexpected circumstance,not of their own making, that leaves them with little or no time for reflection or reasonablycauses them to be so disturbed that they are compelled to make a quick decision withoutweighing alternative courses of conduct, may not be negligent if their actions are reasonable andprudent in the context of the emergency" (Bello v Transit Auth. of N.Y. City, 12 AD3d 58, 60 [2004]; see Parastatidis v Holbrook Rental Ctr.,Inc., 95 AD3d 975, 976 [2012]). In general, however, the emergency doctrine does notapply to typical accidents involving rear-end collisions because trailing drivers are required toleave a reasonable distance between their vehicles and vehicles ahead (see Vehicle andTraffic Law § 1129 [a]; Jacobellisv New York State Thruway Auth., 51 AD3d 976, 976-977 [2008]; Reed v New YorkCity Tr. Auth., 299 AD2d 330, 332 [2002]; Pappas v Opitz, 262 AD2d 471 [1999]).A trailing driver's conduct in failing to leave reasonable distance creates the possibility that asudden stop will be necessary (see Pappas v Opitz, 262 AD2d at 471; Sass v AmbuTrans., 238 AD2d 570 [1997]; Gage v Raffensperger, 234 AD2d 751, 751-752[1996]). Here, the defendants' own submissions regarding the incident demonstrated that the busdriver was not reacting to an emergency, but, rather, to a common traffic occurrence (seeCampanella v Moore, 266 AD2d 423, 424 [1999]; Kowchefski v Urbanowicz, 102AD2d 863 [1984]). Thus, the emergency doctrine was inapplicable. In light of the defendants'failure to meet their initial burden, denial of their motion was required without regard to thesufficiency of the papers submitted in opposition (see Via v Automated Waste Servs., Inc., 96 AD3d 733 [2d Dept2012]; Brown v City of New York,95 AD3d 1051, 1052 [2012]). Skelos, J.P., Balkin, Lott and Miller, JJ., concur.