Judge Rejects “Sudden Emergency” Doctrine, Awards $75K to Plaintiffs
by
Joseph C. Maya on Jun. 09, 2017
Accident & Injury Car Accident Accident & Injury Personal Injury
Summary: A blog post about a case out of Connecticut in which a judge rejected the sudden emergency doctrine because it had been ruled there were other more reasonable options for the driver to fix the mosquito emergency.
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A defense lawyer argued that the driver of a state-owned vehicle shouldn’t be held liable for an accident because mosquitoes invaded the cab of his truck and caused him to lose control. But a state judge swatted away the argument, and awarded two plaintiffs a total of about $75,000.
On the morning of May 25, 2011, a state employee got into a state-owned vehicle and left a job site.
However, while driving down Main Street in East Hartford, he noticed a number of mosquitoes inside the truck. The employee said that while trying to ward off bugs, he lost control and rear-end a car waiting at a red light. That car then hit the vehicle in front of it.
When the other drivers sued, a private practice lawyer hired by the state invoked the “sudden emergency” doctrine, which allows a defendant to attempt to show he did not cause the emergency that led to an accident, and that he dealt with it by choosing the most reasonable course of action. The employee said the mosquito invasion constituted a “sudden emergency.” But the court was not convinced. Superior Court Judge Costanza Epstein said the employee had several options for dealing with the situation that were better than batting at mosquitoes in a moving truck.
“In light of the fact that the mosquitoes more likely than not entered the vehicle at the work site which [the employee] had been, that he had not attempted to rid the vehicle of the pests prior to actively driving on a public roadway, or that he had not pulled over and stopped when he realized the presences of the pests, [means that] the doctrine of sudden emergency does not apply in this case,” Epstein wrote.
The other drivers involved in the crash each claimed to have suffered injuries that continue to affect their daily lives. One driver’s car was totaled. The other driver was diagnosed as having a slight disability in his neck, though he had other injuries prior to the accident.
The drivers filed individual suits against the state in 2013. A bench trial was held in October, but Epstein didn’t release his opinion until March 2.
The judge awarded one driver $9,570 in economic damages and $25,000 in non-economic damages, for a total of $34,570, and the other driver received $8,393 in economic damages and $30,000 in non-economic damages, for a total of $38,393.
At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.
Source: CT Law Tribune
