Opinion
C.A. No. 04C-11-138.
Submitted: June 15, 2006.
Decided: June 19, 2006.
ORDER
Upon consideration of defendant Martin's Motion for Summary Judgment, defendant Spiller's response thereto, and the record in this case, it appears that:
(1) This personal injury accident arises from a motor vehicle accident on November 3, 2003.
(2) The plaintiff, Judith Spiller, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by defendant Sam Spiller ("defendant Spiller"), travelling southbound on Route 202 just before the Interstate 95 South ramp when a collision occurred with Defendant Joann Martin's ("defendant Martin's") vehicle.
(3) Defendant Martin has filed a motion for summary judgment. A motion for summary judgment may only be granted where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In determining whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.
Merrill v. Crothall-American, Inc., 606 A.2d 96 (Del. 1992).
Moore v. Sizemore, 405 A.2d 679, 680 (Del. 1979).
(4) Defendant Martin contends that there is no factual dispute as to the November 3, 2003, accident and that the accident occurred as a result of defendant Spiller's improper lane change. Defendant Spiller was cited for an improper lane change by responding Officer Bramble and paid the fine.
(5) At his July 6, 2005 deposition, defendant Spiller gave his account of the November 3, 2003, accident. Defendant Spiller stated,
"[w]hen I got to the Concord Pike, there was traffic coming. So I couldn't get into the — she calls it the center lane . . . I made a right turn parallel with the Concord Pike with my goal being to get over into the — you know, the Concord Pike is — the traffic was clear. And in so doing, I was — I had inadvertently got into one of the two lanes that was — that bore right into Interstate 95. . . . I was going slowly. . . . I couldn't get onto the Concord Pike yet because there was traffic coming. . . . And there's two lanes that bear right into the Concord Pike. I crossed the first lane. And then I went into the second lane, I still not — I still couldn't get over because there was traffic coming . . . Next thing I knew, I was almost in the lane when a car . . . came . . a hellin . . . and apparently made a right turn into my vehicle. And that car's right front hit my car's left front fender. . . . I was never into the plaintiff's lane."
(4) Based on the statements made by defendant Spiller at his July 6, 2005, deposition, there remains a genuine issue of material fact which precludes summary judgment.
See Sam Spiller Dep., Exhibit A, pp. 23-25, attached to defendant Spiller's response to defendant Martin's motion for summary judgment.
WHEREFORE, Martin's motion for summary judgment is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.