In Holodook v. Spencer (36 NY2d 35 [1974]) the Court of Appeals held that a parent's negligent failure to supervise a child does not generally constitute a tort actionable by the child. Holodook involved a situation where a four-year-old boy was struck by an automobile. The boy had allegedly darted out from between two cars. The defendant's answer contained a counterclaim alleging, inter alia, that the father had failed to properly supervise his son at the time of the accident. Defendant commenced a third-party action against the boy's mother on a similar theory. The Court found that the absence of the existence of a primary cause of action on behalf of the boy against his parents for damages necessarily defeated any secondary cause of action for contribution (see, id., at 51). The Court recognized an exception to its abrogation of that immunity rule. Specifically, it held that "a parent's negligent failure to supervise a child" will generally "not ... constitute a tort actionable by the child"