DE Superior Court denies truck driver’s motion for summary judgment despite clear evidence of right-of-way and plaintiff’s failure to yield.

Clear right-of-way determinations and the failure of one operator to yield to the operator(s) with the right-of-way in many states is often clear evidence of per se negligence that must be rebutted by the opposing party with evidence of a non-negligent defense. However, in this matter, despite evidence of what would traditionally be viewed as per se negligence, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. 

The accident occurred at a four-way intersection where the defendant truck driver was traveling in the only direction of travel, westbound, without a stop sign or traffic signal, and where all other directions of travel had a stop sign with a warning that the westbound traffic was not required to stop. Despite these unrefuted facts, the court denied summary judgment, citing allegations that the defendant truck driver may have been traveling above the speed limit and inconsistency as to whether the plaintiff saw the truck prior to the accident, despite the fact that, irrespective of what the plaintiff saw, she still should have yielded the right-of-way. 

It will be interesting to monitor whether this decision is disturbed on appeal or whether it is a sign that summary judgment prior to trial, despite what appears to be a clear-cut matter-of-law defense, may be difficult to obtain in Delaware State courts.
 

^{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2022 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}