Injury Compensation News

A man, who suffered kidney damage after being injured in a hit and run accident, has seen his settlement of cyclist hit by car compensation reduced to reflect his own lack of care.

Christopher O´Brien (33) of Ballymun, County Dublin, had been cycling home from a St Patrick´s Day party in March 2011 on a bicycle borrowed from a neighbour, when he lost control of the vehicle and fell onto the road.

As he was trying to remount the bicycle, Christopher was hit by a passing motorist who failed to stop at the scene. Christopher was taken to the Mater Hospital, where blood was found in his urine due to kidney damage resulting from the impact with the car. Christopher was hospitalised for five days due to his injuries.

CCTV footage was unhelpful in tracing the hit and run driver and, after seeking professional legal advice, Christopher made a claim for cyclist hit by car compensation against the Motor Insurers´ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).

Christopher admitted that he had been celebrating “enthusiastically” at the party and therefore the compensation claim for a cyclist hit by a car was heard in the Circuit Civil Court to assess the percentage contribution to his injuries Christopher himself was liable for.

At the Circuit Civil Court, Judge Matthew Deery accepted that the seriousness of the kidney injury would have been caused by more than a fall from a bike. However, the judge added that “Mr O’Brien, in electing to cycle home at that time of the morning and having consumed so much alcohol had put himself in the way of injury “.

Judge Deery awarded Christopher €20,336 cyclist hit by car compensation but said, because of the situation he had put himself in at the time, he would deduct 30 per cent for contributory negligence – reducing the settlement of compensation to €14,235.

A former snowboard instructor, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after the intoxicated driver of the car he was a passenger in caused the vehicle to crash, has had the settlement of his compensation claim against the drunk driver approved in court.

Caimin Walsh (28) from Rathgar, County Dublin, was on his way back to his mother´s home in Birr, County Offaly, after attending an all-night party in June 2009. He and an American girl he had met at the party were met and offered a lift by Bernard Markey – also of Birr.

The High Court in Dublin heard that, as Bernard Markey was approaching Carrig, he lost control of the vehicle; it went over a hedge and into a field where it rolled over. Caimin was thrown 20 metres from the vehicle in the accident and sustained a serious brain injury.

The court was also told that Markey allegedly admitted to the Gardai while he was still trapped in the car that he was drunk, and a later reading showed he had a significant amount of alcohol in his system.

Due to the extent of his injuries, Caimin was unable to make a compensation claim against the drunk driver, and it was made on his behalf by his mother Olivia against Bernard Markey, the owner of the car Mary Markey and the Motor Insurers´ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) as the Bernard Markey´s intoxication had voided the terms of his car insurance policy.

Liability was admitted for Caimin´s injuries and a settlement of the compensation claim against a drunk driver was agreed amounting to €1.75 million. Ms Justice Mary Irvine at the High Court approved the settlement, saying that if the case had gone to trial, there was the possibility it would be lost due to Caimin´s inability to recall the events of the accident, the fact that he had accepted a lift from a clearly drunk driver and there was a doubt over whether Caimin was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

A young girl, who was suffered severe physical and emotional trauma due to a crash in which her sister and best friend died, has been awarded €200,000 compensation for her injuries in the car accident.

Faith Varden-Carberry (12) who now lives in Tuam, County Galway, was just seven years of age when her mother Mary Carberry (36) crashed the car she was driving into a clay embankment outside Edgeworthstown, County Longford, in November 2007.

In the accident, Faith´s sister Ava (6) and her best friend Michaela Logan were both killed, and Faith´s injuries were so bad that she had underwent emergency treatment at the scene before being transferred to Our Lady´s Childrens Hospital in Crumlin – where she remained in a spinal cast for two months.

Faith´s mother – who was banned from driving at the time because of a previous accident – was found to be in excess of the legal alcohol limit, was arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment for her part in the crash.

Faith went to live with her step-sister in Tuam when she was released from hospital, and made a claim for compensation for injuries in a car accident through her grand-father Anthony Carberry against both her mother and father – Thomas Varden – who was the legal owner of the car.

The claim against Thomas Varden was later dropped, , and – as Mrs Carberry was uninsured herself and banned from driving – the claim for compensation for injuries in a car accident was transferred to the Motor Insurers´ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).

At the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Charleton was told that a settlement of compensation for injuries in a car accident had been agreed amounting to €200,000 and that the case was before him for approval of damages only.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton approved the settlement, and also allowed €2,000 to be instantly withdrawn from it in order to allow Faith to have a new computer to assist her with her schoolwork.

The family of Bridget O’Reilly of Ballybeg, Waterford, has been awarded €506,000 in damages at the High Court following her death while a passenger in a car accident with a drunk driver. Mrs O’Reilly was aged 42 when she was killed, leaving behind a husband and nine children, the youngest of which was only 3 years old.

The case was taken by Mrs O’Reilly’s husband, Edward O’Reilly, against the drunken driver of the car, Frank Prendergast of Tallaght, County Dublin, and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland. The car crash happened at Powerstown, County Carlow in July 2002 and Mrs O’Reilly died a few weeks later in hospital.

Mrs O’Reilly’s sister, who has her own large family, has been caring for the children left behind by the tragedy.

It should be noted that Irish law is rather lenient on drunk drivers.  In this particular case, the court heard that the drunk driver was travelling at speed when he lost control and crossed over to the wrong side of the road before crashing head-on into an another car. In some legal jurisdictions, such as under the California Vehicle Code, causing bodily injury to another person  while drunk driving is a specific criminal offense. Such road traffic accidents are only accidents in the sense that there are not planned, but they are not accidents in the sense that they are unforeseen. Anyone who drinks alcohol and then decides to drive a motor vehicle is clearly putting other people at risk and accidents are predictable.

Twelve Irish organisations have signed  the European Road Safety Charter in Dublin today. The European Union statistics for 2008 show that there were 1.3 million road traffic accidents, 39,000 road deaths, and 1.6 million injuries. It is estimated that road traffic injuries cost about 2% of European GDP.
The charter focuses on reducing the number of road traffic accidents in Europe with measures that improve vehicle safety, road infrastructure safety, and driver behaviour.
The twelve new Irish signatories of the European Road Safety Charter are Cavan Area Rural Transport, Community Transport Association of Ireland, Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown County Council, ECO Unesco, Headway Ireland, Irish Medical Organisation, Irish Road Haulage Association, Metroplex Ireland, Shell, The Irish Insurance Federation, Vantastic, and World Rally Team Ireland.