The High Court assessed general damages at €93,750 for a cyclist who suffered lasting shoulder and wrist injuries when a car struck him on Beaumont Road in Dublin. Liability had been conceded, so the case proceeded as an assessment of damages. The judge said costs and the final order would be dealt with separately; agreed special damages could be added to the final award.
The collision happened on 16 August 2019 as Alan Massey was cycling home from his mother’s house. He was taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital and kept overnight. His injuries included a fracture of the left wrist, a fracture at the base of the right shoulder’s acromion bone, and soft tissue injuries to his right knee, ankle and chest wall.
Mr Justice Micheál O’Higgins accepted Massey’s evidence that he remained affected by the shoulder injury more than four years later. Medical reports described the fracture as ununited, with ongoing symptoms. The judge found that shoulder pain disrupted sleep and daily tasks, restricted heavy lifting at work, and reduced Massey’s return to cycling. His colleagues helped him avoid heavy lifting duties. He had been off work for five months after the accident.
The treating orthopaedic surgeon said surgery could be considered but was not recommending it, citing the significant undertaking and uncertainty of securing the fracture. The judge said the non-union would be permanent without further treatment. He valued the shoulder injury at €60,000, placing it at the upper end of the Book of Quantum’s moderate category for a humerus fracture, used as the closest available comparison for the acromion injury.
The judge valued the wrist injury at €35,000, finding that the evidence established a comminuted fracture that had since united but still caused occasional pain. He assigned €5,000 for the ankle injury and €5,000 for the knee and chest injuries together. He discounted the €45,000 total for those additional injuries by 25% to account for overlap, leaving a €33,750 uplift alongside the full shoulder valuation.
After standing back to assess the overall award, the judge concluded that €93,750 for past and future pain, suffering and loss of amenity was fair and proportionate. The judgment did not set out the final total, because the agreed special damages and the question of costs remained for the final order.