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Plaintiff cyclist sued defendants, a yacht club and its unit owners' association, for, inter alia, negligence, recklessness, and violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-110a et seq., due to the cyclist's injuries allegedly suffered when riding a bicycle supplied by defendants. Defendants moved to strike these claims.
The cyclist said it was negligent not to make a helmet available to her. This purported duty was distinct from duties related to maintaining the bicycle, so it could be reviewed by a motion to strike. The claim was not legally sufficient because defendants had no duty to provide bicycle helmets to adults, as (1) Connecticut's bicycle helmet statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-286d, only applied to children under 16, and (2) a bicycle purveyor had no common law duty to provide adult cyclists with helmets. The recklessness claim was not stricken because (1) the cyclist sufficiently informed the court and defendants that negligence and recklessness were asserted, and (2) her claims about the purchase, maintenance and inspection of the bicycle were sufficient. Her CUTPA claim was not stricken because it involved fact questions not properly addressed, as absent evidence from a party, and accepting alleged facts as true, it could not be said definitively that cycling was not a part of defendants' primary line of business. Adverse factual inferences that it was incidental to their business could not be drawn without additional facts not properly presented in a motion to strike. The motion was granted as to the cyclist's negligence claim but was denied as to claims of recklessness and CUTPA violations.
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: Herbst v. Guilford Yatch Club Ass'n, 2009 Conn. Super. LEXIS 765 (Conn. Super. Ct. Mar. 30, 2009)
