Opinion
November 23, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Doyle, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with one bill of costs.
The plaintiffs suffered physical injuries when the boat on which they were guests was struck by an oncoming boat. They commenced this action against, among others, the defendant Molded Fiber Glass Companies (hereinafter MFG), the manufacturer of the oncoming boat, and the defendant Dickerson's Marine, Inc. (hereinafter Dickerson's), which had made certain repairs and modifications to the oncoming boat before the accident. Both MFG and Dickerson's moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them. The Supreme Court denied the motions, finding the existence of issues of fact. We agree with the Supreme Court's conclusion that there are questions of fact as to whether the accident was caused by the defective design of the oncoming boat and/or subsequent modifications made to that boat, or by the temporary blindness of the operator of the oncoming boat, which was caused by the sun.
Copertino, J. P., Sullivan, Pizzuto and Goldstein, JJ., concur.