The High Court has awarded €199,166 to a spectator who lost his left leg after being struck by a rally car, finding that three rally bodies were negligent but that the plaintiff bore two-thirds of the responsibility for the accident.
Mr Justice Brian J. McGovern found the first, second and third defendants failed to identify a hazardous crest as a prohibited area for spectators and to give warnings. He assessed the plaintiff’s responsibility at two-thirds and the defendants’ at one-third. The award represents his one-third share of total damages assessed at €597,498.
The accident happened on 5 February 2005 during the Galway International Motor Rally. The plaintiff had moved with friends from a point near a marshal to a position beyond a crest, where he sat in a drain about 2.5 metres from the road and filmed cars. The judge found that vehicles had been filmed with all four wheels off the road at the crest. The plaintiff was struck by a car driven by the fourth defendant, Brian Melia.
The judge granted a non-suit in favour of Mr Melia at the close of the plaintiff’s case, finding there was no evidence that he drove other than as could be expected in a rally on a closed-road stage. The liability findings concerned only the first three defendants.
The judge accepted engineering evidence for the plaintiff that the crest was hazardous. He found the group had been visible at points as they moved towards it, but nobody warned them away or directed them to keep clear. Although witnesses for the defendants said the location was not considered a significant risk and was not listed in the safety plan, the judge concluded it should have been identified and marked as prohibited. He said an additional marshal could have been stationed near the crest.
On contributory negligence, the judge found the plaintiff probably had a rally programme containing a spectator safety notice. He also found the danger should have been obvious: the plaintiff was below road level, close to the road beyond a blind crest, after seeing cars leave the ground there. Sitting down to take photographs reduced his time to react. The judge described his conduct as reckless exposure to danger.
The plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including an above-knee amputation after a further operation for infection. The court assessed general damages at €200,000, past loss of earnings at €40,000, future loss of earnings at €175,000, future prosthesis costs at €170,000 and other agreed special damages at €12,498. Applying the one-third liability share, the judge entered judgment for €199,166.