A New York court recently fleshed out the concept of an unavoidable accident in a motor vehicle accident case in which the plaintiff sought summary judgment. The claim in Wood v. Deschamps arose out of a winter storm related motor vehicle accident. By all accounts, the plaintiff was entirely blameless in the accident. She had been proceeding at a reasonable speed, well below the posted limit, and within her lane of travel when the defendant’s vehicle fishtailed and entered her lane of travel. It had been snowing for some time with about 1.5″ accumulation on the ground.

The defendant had been traveling somewhat under the speed limit, in light of the weather conditions, but lost control of her vehicle as she rounded a bend. She agreed that the accident occurred quickly after she entered the plaintiff’s lane.

The defense fought plaintiff’s partial summary judgment motion on the issue of liability arguing that the emergency doctrine or unavoidable accident theory applied. The Court declined to extend the “emergency doctrine” to this situation finding that there had not been a sudden and unexpected event. Although the accident was certainly sudden, the factors leading up to it were not.  The defendant admittedly knew that it was snowing and that the roads were slick as she continued on her journey.

However, the Court found that a jury could conclude that the collision was an unavoidable accident if neither party was negligent. In this case, the plaintiff was clearly free from fault as she drove at a reasonable speed and maintained control of her vehicle when she was struck by a vehicle that fishtailed into her path of travel. Similarly, the Court found that a jury could find the defendant blameless if they believed that she was traveling in a reasonable and prudent manner given the weather conditions and that her loss of control was beyond her control.

Thanks to Christopher Gioia for his contribution.

For more information, contact Denise Fontana Ricci at .