These proceedings arose from a road traffic accident that took place on Saturday 26th January 2008 at approximately 11.30am on Main Street, Saintfield. The Defendant, an elderly gentleman who was too ill to attend at the hearing, had instructed that he while he was in the process of parking his vehicle, he “touched” the Plaintiff’s stationary vehicle. Vehicle damage to the Plaintiff’s vehicle totalled just £165.00. There was no damage caused to the Defendant’s vehicle.
The Defendant had instructed that there had been only a driver in the Plaintiff’s vehicle at the time of the incident, although personal injury claims were issued by both a driver and passenger. The Defendant was however an ill elderly gentleman, his recollection was vague and he was unfit to attend at the hearing. There were no other witnesses or CCTV footage and therefore the Defendant could not deny the presence of both a driver and a passenger in the Plaintiff’s vehicle at the time of the subject accident.
The driver and passenger cases were heard together by Her Honour District Judge Brownlee. In her judgment following evidence given by the Plaintiff Judge Brownlee advised that the case involved a low impact collision. She found that the extent of damage to the respective vehicles did not automatically not rule in or rule out the possibility that an individual had sustained personal injuries.
Judge Brownlee advised that she maintained the stance largely adopted by the judiciary that it is not a matter for engineers or lawyers to decide upon whether or not a minor impact collision can lead to a Plaintiff being injured. She said that in addition to considering the low impact and the damage caused to the Plaintiff’s vehicle one has to look at the Plaintiff’s account of the accident and the medical evidence. In this respect the Plaintiff has to satisfy her that their injuries were sustained. In this case she held that neither of the Plaintiffs had satisfied her that they had sustained personal injury. Both, she said, gave her a non persuasive account. Judge Brownlee advised that she has to find subjectively and objectively that the Plaintiff has been injured and in this case she has not found that to be the case.
As such Judge Browlee dismissed the Civil Bill issued by the passenger. She awarded the driver and owner of the vehicle the sum of £175.00, which represented vehicle damage only.