The Supreme Court allowed the Minister for Finance’s appeal in a personal injuries case arising from a 1994 motorcycle crash near Kilfeakle, Co Tipperary. It held that the Garda pursuit did not breach a duty of care in the circumstances in which the collision occurred and was not a cause of the passenger’s injuries. The Court said the claim must be dismissed.
The plaintiff was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her then boyfriend. The bike had passed a speed check near Urlingford at 80 miles per hour and did not stop. Gardaí followed it, and a roadblock was later set up in Cashel. The motorcycle passed the roadblock and continued towards Tipperary. Near Kilfeakle, it crossed a continuous white line and collided with an oncoming car. The Supreme Court said the car driver did not cause or contribute to the crash.
The High Court had found the Minister liable, concluding that the pursuit caused the motorcycle’s speed and that Garda driving breached the duty of care owed to the passenger. The Minister appealed. The Supreme Court accepted the trial judge’s primary findings of fact, which were not challenged, but disagreed with the inferences drawn from them.
The Supreme Court treated the pursuit as a sequence of changing circumstances. It held that the Gardaí had reasonable grounds to follow the motorcycle after the driver failed to stop and accelerated away from the speed check. The Court also found that the passenger’s gesture at the Cashel roadblock, which suggested she wanted to get off, changed the circumstances and raised the standard of care while the motorcycle and Garda car passed through the town.
However, the crash occurred about 9.6 miles beyond Cashel. The road had become narrower and more difficult, the Garda car was held up behind an articulated truck, and Garda evidence was that it did not exceed 50 miles per hour on that stretch. The Court found no breach of duty by the Gardaí over those final miles. It also concluded that, even if following the motorcycle towards Tipperary had been negligent, the pursuit did not materially cause the injuries. The Court identified the motorcyclist’s reckless driving at the bend as the immediate and effective cause.
The judgment records that the passenger was pregnant and suffered a miscarriage and other serious injuries. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and dismissed her claim.