The High Court has awarded €74,000 to a motorcyclist injured when an unknown driver cut across him on a slip road to the M1. The case was an assessment of damages only; liability for the crash was attributed to the untraced driver, with the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland sued under its agreement concerning untraced drivers.
The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Denise Brett on 21 November 2023, awarded €66,000 in general damages and €8,000 in special damages, which the parties had agreed. The judge also said costs would follow in the normal course but that she would hear counsel on the formal order for costs.
The plaintiff, Aidan Crum, was travelling from Laytown, County Meath, towards his then workplace in Sandyford on 1 February 2019. He told the court that a car cut in front of him at the Balbriggan interchange, causing him to brake and fall. He described skidding about 200 metres among traffic. The court accepted his evidence about the crash and his injuries.
His dominant injury was a severe fracture of his left wrist, his dominant hand. He underwent surgery to repair it and had a 10cm scar. The judge found that he had lasting restricted movement, affecting work and leisure activities, and placed the wrist injury in the lower end of the Guidelines’ serious category. She awarded €45,000 for it.
The judge assessed the scar as a separate injury and said she would award €20,000 if it were the main injury. She valued the ankle injury at €2,500 on the same basis, finding it fell within the minor category and that substantial recovery took about six months. She also accepted that the crash caused some mental health effects, including sleep disturbance and flashbacks, and assigned €5,500 if that were the main injury. These three additional assessments totalled €28,000; applying a 25% discount for overlap in time and rehabilitation, the judge added €21,000 to the wrist award.
The judge noted the wrist carried a low, estimated 10–15% risk of future arthritis. She did not include the plaintiff’s fear of contracting MRSA in damages, citing the absence of authority for compensation for fear of contracting a disease.