Roberts, B. v. Elder, E, III.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 25, 2025
Docket611 MDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Roberts, B. v. Elder, E, III. (Roberts, B. v. Elder, E, III.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts, B. v. Elder, E, III., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-A04005-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

BARBARA ROBERTS, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF : PENNSYLVANIA TERRY ALLEN SMITH, II : : Appellant : : : v. : : No. 611 MDA 2024 : EDWARD ELDER, III, A&E AUTO : SERVICES, LLC, BRYAN NEBUHR, : AND KATIE SNYDER :

Appeal from the Order Entered March 26, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County Civil Division at No(s): 2017-SU-003185

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., NICHOLS, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, P.J.: FILED: JUNE 25, 2025

Barbara Roberts (Roberts), Administratrix of the Estate of Terry Allen

Smith, II, (Decedent), appeals from the order entering summary judgment in

favor of Edward Elder, III and A&E Auto Service, LLC (Elder and A&E).1 After

our review, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. ____________________________________________

1 On May 22, 2024, this Court entered a rule to show cause as to why this appeal should not be quashed as it appeared the March 26, 2024 order did not dispose of all parties—where two defendants below, Bryan Nebuhr and Katie Snyder, still remained. See Order, 5/22/24. An appeal properly lies only from a final order unless otherwise permitted by rule or statute. McCutcheon v. Philadelphia Elec. Co., 788 A.2d 345, 349 (Pa. 2002). A final order is one that disposes of all claims in parties to an action. Pa.R.A.P. 341(b)(1). On June 5, 2024, Roberts filed a response to the rule to show cause, stating that she had resolved the claims against Defendants Snyder (owner of 2002 Chevrolet Express G3500 van in question) and Nebuhr (driver (Footnote Continued Next Page) J-A04005-25

This action arises out of a fatal car accident that occurred on December

10, 2015 at the intersection of Freysville Road and East Prospect Road in

Windsor Township, York County. On December 1, 2015, Katie Snyder, the

owner of the van, took the van to A&E for service. A&E inspected the vehicle.

The A&E invoice indicates: “LABOR TO REPLACE FRONT BRAKES AND

ROTORS.2

On December 10, 2015, Nebuhr drove the van to decedent’s residence

to pick him up to travel to a worksite in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At

approximately 6:54 a.m., Nebuhr and decedent were about five to ten miles

into their journey, traveling on Freysville Road at or near its intersection with

East Prospect Road in Windsor Township. That intersection is controlled by a

stop sign on Freysville Road; however, there is no stop sign on East Prospect

Road. Nebuhr slowed the van prior to entering the intersection and, once he

entered the intersection, Nebuhr’s vehicle collided with a vehicle (a 2015 Ford

____________________________________________

of van on day of accident) by executing a Joint Tortfeasor Release dated October 6, 2022. Accordingly, the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Elder and A&E disposed of all remaining claims and is a final order for purposes of appeal. See Response to Order to Show Cause, 6/5/24, at ¶¶ 5-7. On July 22, 2024, this Court discharged the rule to show cause. See Order, 7/22/24.

2 As indicated infra, the trial court did not consider this invoice as part of the

record as it was only attached to Roberts’ brief. Although technically correct, the trial court overlooks the fact that other evidence presented, including the deposition testimony of the owner of the van and Roberts’ expert report, supports the allegation that A&E performed this work. Moreover, at argument on its motion for summary judgment, counsel for defendants admitted A&E worked on the front brakes of the van ten days prior to the accident. See infra, at 9.

-2- J-A04005-25

F450 Dump Truck) operated by a non-party, Jack Lowe. Decedent, who was

in the passenger seat of the van, died as a result of his injuries in the collision.

Roberts’ wrongful death and survival action is based on the alleged

faulty replacement of brake pads and rotors by Elder and A&E, which caused

or contributed to the fatal accident. Roberts’ complaint alleged

the brakes on the van failed to work properly causing the vehicle to enter the intersection without stopping and violently collide with the vehicle lawfully traveling in the westbound direction of travel on East Prospect Road, as a result of which the vehicle in which Decedent was a passenger, rolled onto the passenger side killing Decedent in the process.

Complaint, 4/23/21, at ¶ 15. The complaint further alleged that:

Elder passed the vehicle for inspection and emissions even though the van did not meet the standards for the vehicle to pass said inspections and tests. Id. at ¶ 17. Said crash was directly and proximately caused by the joint and several negligent, careless, reckless[,] and intentionally wrongful conduct of Defendants, which consisted of the following violations according to the PA Vehicle Equipment and Inspection Regulations, issued by the PA Department of Transportation, 2014 (Pub. 45, Feb 2014):

- The brake reservoir should have been checked and filled by A&E [] after the brake pads and rotors installation;

- The brake reservoir should have been checked and filled as part of the PA State Safety Inspection;

- The brake pedal travel should have been checked and corrected by A&E [] as part of the brake pad and rotor installation and as part of the PA state Inspection;

- A&E [] never checked or filled the brake fluid reservoir or the brake pedal travel. The depleted reservoir was the cause of the excessive brake pedal travel. The depleted reservoir was also the cause of the mushy and spongy brakes and of the underperforming brakes reported by the driver of the van. The van should not have passed PA State

-3- J-A04005-25

Inspection with either the depleted reservoir or the excessive brake pedal travel;

- The right rear axle seal leak and saturated brake shoes were visible without removing the wheel or drum. These conditions would have further contributed to the underperforming brake system. The van should not have passed PA State Inspection with a right rear axle seal leak and saturated brake shoes[.]

Id. at ¶ 18.

At his deposition, Nebuhr testified that he was driving slowly since it was

dark and foggy:

I definitely was going slow and later on I found out at the time of the accident I was only going ten miles an hour. I was aware that I was going slow because of the fog in general that morning, but I didn’t realize I was going that slow at the time the accident occurred.

N.T. Deposition of Bryan Nebuhr, 3/7/22, at 12. See id. at 34-35 (“Afterwards

they said they did an investigation and after the investigation was concluded,

they said that I was going ten miles an hour at the end. And [the “]they[”]

I'm referring to is the police department, I’m assuming.”).

Nebuhr also testified that because he had lost consciousness and

suffered a concussion from the accident, he had “no recollection” of how the

accident occurred. Id. at 37, 51. However, he stated: “I think at the time

of the accident I said something about the brakes.” Id. at 38. He also

testified that he did not recall talking to the police after the accident, but he

knows he did. Id. at 41. He also had little recollection of speaking with Lowe,

the driver of the dump truck. Id. at 46 (“I remember talking to the driver,

-4- J-A04005-25

but I don’t remember what we talked about. Like, I guess just us being in

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