13 N.Y.2d 180 | NY | 1963
Appellant has been convicted of the offense of violating subdivision (a) of section 1180 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law insofar as it states “ No person shall drive a motor
Courts of other States have, for the most part, upheld similar statutes, as in State v. Goldstone (144 Minn. 405, [1920]), State v. Schaeffer (96 Ohio St. 215 [1917]), Smith v. State of Indiana (186 Ind. 252 [1917]), State v. Magaha (182 Md. 122 [1943]), State v. Coppes (247 Ia. 1057 [1956]) and State of Oregon v. Wojahn (204 Ore. 84 [1955]). The case last cited in a 56-page opinion reviews the cases on both sides of the question, and concludes by upholding the validity of a similar statute.
An information may be sufficient charging violation of subdivision (a) of section 1180 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law without stating the speed in miles per hour, provided that enough facts and circumstances are set forth in detail so that, in relation to existing conditions and hazards, the trier of the fact could determine that the speed was not reasonable and prudent. Here, for example, it was alleged and proved that on a slippery icy street the appellant, with knowledge of its slippery nature, started his automobile from a stop on three separate occasions, each time spinning his car around, and ending by sliding off the street into a snowbank. Although skidding is not in itself evidence of negligence (Lahr v. Tirrill, 274 N. Y. 112; Rango v. Fennell, 168 N. Y. S. 646; Philpot v. Fifth Ave. Coach Co., 142 App. Div. 811; Anderson v. Schorn, 189 App. Div. 495; Matter of Fake v. Macduff, 281 App. Div. 630, 633), it was charged and established here that this driver repeatedly operated his automobile with knowledge of these dangerous conditions at a speed which the trier of the fact could determine was greater than reasonable and prudent. The mere fact that he was driving at such a speed as to skid in the ordinary course of driving would not have been enough to convict him, but we are confronted with the extraordinary situation that he did the same thing again and again with apparent knowledge of the consequences. This was
Chief Judge Desmond and Judges Dye, Fuld, Burke, Foster and Scileppi concur.
Judgment affirmed.