Personal Injuries - Road traffic accident - Damages - Nature and extent of injury - Contributory negligence

Facts: The plaintiff sought damages for sustaining injuries by way of personal injuries summons alleging negligence on the part of the defendant in failing to place visible warning signs on the road. The defendant contended that the plaintiff was driving at a high speed when he came into the bend even after applying the brakes. The plaintiff contended that he had lost control of his car as there were neither visible signs warning of the loose chippings nor the indication that the safe speed to travel was 35 kilometres per hour.

Held: Mr. Justice Twomey dismissed the plaintiff’s claim. The Court held that the evidence by an overseer had confirmed that on the day of the accident, warning signs were put in place, indicating that there were loose chippings and that appropriate speed limit was 35 kmph. The Court held that considering the balance of probabilities, the cause of the accident was the fact that the plaintiff was travelling at an unsafe speed of 50 kmph or more. The Court noted that had the plaintiff taken sufficient care in observing the warnings signs, he would have slowed his speed to 35 kmph and the accident would not have been there.

Flynn, Jason v South Tipperary County Council

29/6/2017 No. 2014/1640 P [2017] IEHC 434