SNODGRASS -V- DUFFY AND DUFFY
Londonderry County Courthouse14th February 2003
Judge Philpott
This road traffic accident occurred late on a Friday evening on a 30 mph one-way road that has three licensed premises nearby. The road has set of traffic lights with a pedestrian crossing at bottom.
The Defendant was travelling in a vehicle towards the traffic lights when the Plaintiff emerged from one of the licensed premises, ran across his path and collided with his car. The Plaintiff was transported to hospital by ambulance and admitted for 2 days with head injuries. She was diagnosed with a linear fracture and suffered cuts, bruising and short-term memory loss.
The matter proceeded to a full hearing. The Police Officer gave evidence that the Plaintiff made a verbal statement at hospital that the accident was her fault as she had ran across in front of the car. In her police statement she said that she was on her mobile and not looking where she was going. The Police had recommended that she be given advice and warning.
The Plaintiff's Engineer's evidence (and the Defendant's Engineer agreed) was that there was a skid mark of 66 feet and therefore the Defendant must have been travelling at 38 mph, that is 8 miles above the speed limit. The Engineer also confirmed that had the Defendant been travelling at 30 mph then he would have stopped approximately 20 feet before impact and avoided the accident.
After hearing all the evidence, the Judge stated that this was a contributory negligence case and found the Defendant 30% and Plaintiff 70% liable for the accident. In respect of damages she noted that there was a linear fracture and valued the case at £8,000, therefore the Plaintiff received a total sum of £2,400.