The High Court awarded Erin Gallagher €114,300 in damages after finding that she was contributorily negligent in two respects: travelling with a driver whose capacity was impaired by alcohol and not wearing a seatbelt.
Mr Justice Ryan delivered judgment on 8 March 2013 in an assessment of damages arising from a July 2008 single-car crash in County Donegal. The defendant, Oliver McGeady, admitted liability for the crash. The court had to decide whether the plaintiff’s damages should be reduced for contributory negligence and assess the injuries and compensation.
The judge preferred McGeady’s account of the evening, finding that Gallagher had been with him in two Falcarragh public houses for about two and a half hours or more, where she could observe him drinking. The group later travelled towards Gweedore. McGeady said he took a narrow road to reduce the chance of being stopped by gardaí and breathalysed. The court found that the crash happened because his driving capacity was seriously impaired by alcohol, and that Gallagher should have recognised the risk and not travelled with him.
On the seatbelt issue, the court found that Gallagher had been ejected from the car and was not wearing a belt. It accepted evidence from a hospital triage nurse that he would have checked such information with her, and preferred the defendant’s medical expert’s opinion on her injuries over the plaintiff’s engineering expert. The judge noted that the nurse recorded Gallagher as confused after the crash, but accepted his evidence about the seatbelt note.
The court assessed contributory negligence at 40%, taking both findings into account. It described the injuries as severe, including fractures to the cheekbone, jaw, collarbones and ribs, scarring, facial numbness and continuing memory difficulties. It did not award damages for alleged loss of earning capacity, finding that the evidence did not establish that her ability to work and earn had been impaired. It also did not accept the balance and dizziness complaint as proved, while finding that neck and back soft-tissue injuries were understandable but not serious or disabling.
The judge assessed general damages at €100,000 for past injuries and €65,000 for future effects, and added agreed special damages of €25,500. The resulting €190,500 was reduced by 40%, producing judgment for €114,300. The judgment does not state a separate order on costs.