Practice point: The defendants demonstrated their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of
law by establishing that the bus was operated in a prudent and reasonable manner, and the
driver acted with due care under the circumstances. The evidence
established that the bus entered the intersection with the light and had
nearly completed exiting the intersection when the decedent, against the light, entered the intersection, ost his balance, and fell to the pavement in the path of the bus's rear
tire.
In opposition, the plaintiffs' conclusory and speculative assertions of defendants' possible negligence were unsupported by any competent evidence, and, therefore, did not raise a triable issue
of fact.
Student note: Where, as here, the plaintiffs failed to
make some showing of negligence on the part of the defendants, the plaintiffs were not
entitled to invoke the Noseworthy doctrine, under which a plaintiff may prevail on a lesser degree of proof.
Case: Clark v. Amboy Bus Co., NY Slip 03645 (2d Dept. 2014)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: A fall at the laundromat.
