Pedestrian who was hit by a car wins case with two thirds liability
- 16.12.2016
- EmmaArnold
- Personal-injury, Personal-injury
A man was awarded a proportion of his compensation after he suffered a brain injury when he was hit by a car.
His award was reduced by one-third for contributory negligence as he stepped into the road without looking and he failed to use the pedestrian crossing.
However, the driver saw the man about five seconds before the impact and so should have foreseen he might step into the street. Therefore, the driver failed to keep an eye on the pedestrian or to slow down to avoid him in case he continued into the road.
Jerry Smith, Solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
This is another tragic example of the type of case we deal with only too often, where a pedestrian has been left with catastrophic brain injury after collision with a car. The judge concluded that the driver had seen the pedestrian on the pavement about five seconds before the impact and should have realised that the he might try to cross the road.
The driver should have kept an eye on him and been ready to brake. If the driver had just slowed down to less than 20 mph this would have prevented the injury and its awful consequences.
The court decided, on the balance of probabilities, the collision would have been avoided and that there was no doubt that his failure to look and to use the crossing were affected by his alcohol consumption.
The Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 s1(1) was taken into consideration. The motorist bore a larger portion of the liability, but the pedestrian had had a serious disregard for his own safety.