Opinion
2002-04935
Argued February 20, 2003.
March 17, 2003.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Schmidt, J.), dated February 19, 2002, which granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
Tomao and Marangas, Garden City, N.Y. (Theodora A. Marangas of counsel), for appellants.
Agen Stenz, Westbury, N.Y. (Stuart M. Kurland of counsel), for respondents.
Before: MYRIAM J. ALTMAN, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, LEO F. McGINITY, BARRY A. COZIER, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly considered the police accident report submitted on the defendants' motion for summary judgment, which contained a statement by the plaintiff Nemesio Guevara (hereinafter Guevara) that he had fallen asleep while driving and that his vehicle had crossed into oncoming traffic. The police officer who prepared the report was acting within the scope of his duty in recording Guevara's statement, and the statement was admissible as the admission of a party (see Ferrara v. Poranski, 88 A.D.2d 904; Murray v. Donlan, 77 A.D.2d 337; Chemical Leaman Tank Lines v. Stevens, 21 A.D.2d 556; see also Matter of Leon RR, 48 N.Y.2d 117, 122-123).
The evidence submitted by the defendants established their entitlement to summary judgment as a matter of law. The defendant driver Dean Zaharakis was not required to anticipate that another vehicle would cross over into his lane and, in this emergency situation, he was under no obligation to use his best judgment (see Velez v. Diaz, 227 A.D.2d 615). The plaintiffs' submissions failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to the defendants' negligence. Rather, their submissions, including the correction sheets to Guevara's deposition testimony, raised feigned issues intended to avoid the consequences of Guevara's earlier admissions (see Prunty v. Keltie's Bum Steer, 163 A.D.2d 595).
ALTMAN, J.P., KRAUSMAN, McGINITY and COZIER, JJ., concur.