O'Neal v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. N22C-03-226 MAA, 2023 WL 4704684 (Del. Super. Ct. Jul. 21, 2023)

In a somewhat unusual case, the Delaware Superior Court found that the plaintiff’s negligence in crossing the street outweighed the negligence of the driver who hit the plaintiff and granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant.

In his summary judgment motion, the defendant argued that he did not breach his duty to operate his vehicle in a reasonably prudent manner and that the plaintiff was negligent when entered the road in front of oncoming traffic.

In reaching its decision, the court looked at Delaware’s comparative negligence statute; the duties and obligations of both pedestrians and drivers; the dashboard camera footage; and the deposition testimony. The court determined that the plaintiff’s action “created an unavoidable accident,” because the plaintiff darted out into traffic, and it was not by any negligence of the defendant.