The Superior Court of Litchfield denied a prejudgment remedy of $750,000 in a motor vehicle case.
The plaintiff was a passenger in a work vehicle which had the right of way at an intersection in Washington, CT. He was seriously injured when the defendant’s vehicle failed to stop at the intersection. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant should have known the intersection was controlled by a stop sign, due to her familiarity with the road and the existence of a “stop ahead” sign. The stop sign had been knocked down 5 days earlier due to a prior accident and not replaced.
The court found that there was insufficient evidence to establish probable cause to sustain the validity of the claim against the defendant.
The court order read as follows: “It is undisputed that there was no stop sign at the corner of … The court finds that the defendant previously traveled on that road but on only a handful of occasions. The court does not find probable cause that the defendant will be found negligent for failing to stop when there was no stop sign directing that she do so.”
Click here to review the full court order.
Lewis S. Lerman, a partner at Halloran Sage, successfully defended the defendant.