In Dermatossian v. New York City Transit Authority, 67 NY2d 219, 492 N.E.2d 1200, 501 N.Y.S.2d 784 (1986), the plaintiff was injured when he struck his head on a bus grab handle that the plaintiff alleged projected defectively "straight down from the ceiling of the bus instead of at the customary angle of about 45 degrees." (Dermatossian, 67 NY2d at 221 n 2.) The Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiff's assertion of res ipsa loquitur, reasoning that plaintiff's evidence "did not adequately exclude the chance that the handle had been damaged by one or more of defendant's passengers who were invited to use it." (Id. at 228.)