Court Awards Compensation for Pedestrian hit by Truck

by | Nov 21, 2012

A student, who was hit on the head by the wing mirror of a council works vehicle, has been awarded €300,000 in compensation for his pedestrian hit by a truck claim at the High Court.

Ciaran Chestnutt (25) of Greystones, County Wicklow, told Mr Justice Iarflaith O’Neill at the High Court that he did not remember a great deal about the accident because of the injuries he had sustained, but had been told he was standing at pedestrian traffic lights on Paddy Brown’s Road, Waterford, on October 26, 2007 when he was struck by the mirror of a passing truck.

As a result of his accident, Ciaran suffered brain damage which reduced his memory capacity and caused him to lose his senses of taste and smell. He also suffers a permanent black spot in the vision of his right eye and will have a permanent scar on his forehead as a reminder of the accident. Because of his accident, he also lost a year at college where he was studying architectural technology.

Having sought legal advice, Ciaran made a claim for compensation for a pedestrian hit by a truck. However Waterford City Council – which owned the truck – and its employee who had been driving the truck at the time of the accident, Michael Coyne, denied their liability – claiming that Ciaran was the author of his own misfortune by walking into the truck.

After hearing evidence from witnesses representing both parties, Mr Justice Iarflaith O´Neill said he was satisfied the accident was caused by the negligence of the driver for whom the Council was vicariously liable. Awarding Ciaran €300,000 in compensation for a pedestrian hit by a truck, Mr Justice Iarflaith O’Neill said Ciaran´s injuries have had a huge impact on his life, but he had done extremely well coping with his injury and had got his academic career back on track.

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