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.