Case study - fatal accident claim

An elderly passenger fell on a bus and suffered fatal injuries. A court found that his fall was caused and contributed to by both the bus driver and the driver of a car.

The Claimant, moments before his fall was a passenger on a London bus in North London. He was getting off at the next stop. In anticipation he moved from his seat to the aisle whilst holding onto the rail. He then stood and waited for the bus to stop. Just before his stop the bus approached a yellow box junction. There was a car in the adjacent lane. The yellow box junction instruct road users to only drive their vehicles into the junction if they can exit on the other side. Typically these junctions are monitored and fines issued to drivers stopping in the box junction.

Unknown to the Claimant the car driver entered the box junction when they were unable to get out the other side. The car driver momentarily moved their car in such a way that suggested that they were about to enter the adjacent lane in which the bus was proceeding. As a result the bus driver braked hard to slow and bring the bus to a stop believing that a collision was imminent. The heavy braking, caused the standing Claimant to lose his grip and fall forward to the floor. He struck his head on the driver’s cabin door. Sadly, the Claimant died in hospital later that evening from his injuries.

At Trial, both Defendant’s denied being liable for the Claimant’s death. They accused each other of being responsible. The Bus driver’s case was that if it was not for the actions of the car driver he would not have had to brake, whilst the Car Driver argued that they made no move into the bus’s lane and that in any event the Bus was being driven too fast for the circumstances, and that the driver had been driving erratically most of his shift. They also argued that the Claimant contributed to his accident by standing up on the bus when it was not necessary to do so. The Court after a 2 day trial, found that the Bus Driver was 25% negligent as a result of driving too fast for the circumstance and 75% against the car driver, who caused on the balance of probabilities the bus to brake when they made a move inside their lane in an attempt to avoid being caught in the yellow box junction without being able to exit. There was no finding of contributory negligence against the Claimant.

The Claimant was survived by his elderly wife, to whom he had provided full time care and assistance due to several significant ailments and conditions that she had. They both lived independently and required very little assistance from the local authority service, family or friends. Following the Claimant’s death his wife had to move to a residential care home for fulltime care. As a result of the loss of her husband she lost his companionship, emotional support and physical care. As a result her ailments which included dementia quickly deteriorated. It was believed that as a result of her husband’s death that her life expectancywas reduced and that she had to leave her marital home far sooner than she would have otherwise needed. Sadly, some two and half years after her husband’s death she also died.

Quantum was compromised under the Fatal Accidents Act and the Law Reform (Misc. Provisions) Act. The Cost of her post accident care was a significant part of the Claim. The parties agreed settlement for both the estates of both Estates for £80,000.00