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The accident report has to speak for what happened in the accident.

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On October 31, 1958 a mother was waiting to have her infant daughter x-rayed in a mobile X-ray truck, the truck was struck by another vehicle. The child was injured in the accident. The driver in the commercial truck accident later died. The accident report has to speak for what happened in the accident.

Apparently, the commercial truck driver attempted to move his vehicle which was parked against the curb in front of the place of business. There was an unoccupied vehicle parked behind his truck, and the mobile X-ray truck was parked in front. The driver put his vehicle into reverse and struck the car parked behind him. The bumpers interlocked due to the size difference in the vehicles. The commercial truck driver pulled forward causing the vehicle attached to its bumper to come into hard contact with the mobile X-ray truck that had been parked in front. The impact caused the injury to the infant.

The parents of the infant filed suit in Brooklyn, New York against the driver and the company that employed the driver for damages incurred because of the driver’s actions. They asked the court for an order granting summary judgment against the company and to direct immediate assessment of damages by a jury.

The company that hired the driver made a cross-movement for an order of preclusion because they claim that the parents of the infant had failed to serve a bill of particulars to them after it was requested. Further, they claim that they have no knowledge or information about the nature or circumstances of the accident. They also state that because the driver is deceased and cannot tell them what happened that they should not be held to as a high a degree of proof in opposing the motion of the parents as they would have if the driver was still alive.

The court held that in light of the fact that the incidents and particulars of this case are not the exclusive knowledge of the parents. The facts involved in this case are public knowledge and documented in reports that could easily have been obtained by the company or its representatives prior to the court date. Further, the parents provided the following documentation to the company in their opposing affidavit: a statement allegedly made by the truck driver to an investigator hired by the parents before his death. Because these items were provided to the company, the court presumes that this company had ample opportunity to become aware of the facts of this case prior to trial.

There is no dispute about how this accident occurred. There is no dispute about who caused the accident in that there was only one driver involved. There is no dispute that the actions of the driver caused the injury to the child.

The court finds that there are ample grounds to direct a motion for summary judgment and an assessment of damages for the parents. The court also finds that more detail needs to be provided to the company in reference to particular charges. So the parents are ordered to provide the information to the company within 10 days after service or the motion to preclude will be granted.

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