Opinion
Submitted May 13, 1999
June 28, 1999
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant Terence Legler appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Driscoll, J.), dated May 27, 1998, as granted the motion by the plaintiff John Laverdiere for summary judgment dismissing the counterclaim asserted against him.
Isserlis Sullivan, Bethpage, N.Y. (Alan H. Krystal of counsel), for appellant.
Frank V. Merlino, Garden City, N.Y. (David Holmes of counsel), for respondent on counterclaim.
Joachim, Flanzig, Frommer, Beasley Madigan, Mineola, N Y (Daniel Flanzig of counsel), for plaintiffs.
SONDRA MILLER, J.P., DANIEL W. JOY, HOWARD MILLER, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs to the respondent.
The Supreme Court properly dismissed the counterclaim against the plaintiff John Laverdiere. The record demonstrates that Laverdiere had less than one second to react to an unexpected emergency situation when the vehicle of the defendant Terence Legler crossed over into Laverdiere's lane of travel ( see, e.g., Velez v. Diaz, 227 A.D.2d 615, 616; Williams v. Econ, 221 A.D.2d 429, 430; Greifer v. Schneider, 215 A.D.2d 354, 356; Moller v. Lieber, 156 A.D.2d 434; see also, Mangano v. New York City Hous. Auth., 218 A.D.2d 787). Additionally, there is no evidence in the record that Laverdiere acted unreasonably in response to the emergency situation or that he committed any prior tortious conduct which contributed to the cause of the accident ( see, Ferrer v. Harris, 55 N.Y.2d 285, 293; Hentschel v. Robert Campbell Carpet Servs., 256 A.D.2d 500 [2d Dept., Dec. 21, 1998]; Smith v. Brennan, 245 A.D.2d 596).