The High Court found University College Dublin liable after George McNamara fractured his left elbow when he tripped over a granite bollard on a campus walkway. Mr Justice Barr awarded him €65,765 in damages, including €765 in special damages.
The accident happened on 28 September 2012, as McNamara walked across UCD’s Belfield campus to meet a staff member in the Nova building. He told the court the walkway was crowded with students coming towards him. After asking a passer-by for directions, he took a step forward and struck one of two cube-shaped bollards placed across the path.
The court accepted McNamara’s account that the pedestrian traffic obscured his view of the bollards. It found he was not contributorily negligent for failing to see them. The cubes were 45cm high, stood apart from other bollards, and were positioned across a walkway about 3.5 metres wide.
UCD’s engineer considered the bollards visible, but accepted that a person directly in front of one could block the view and that a large number of pedestrians could obscure it. UCD’s ground facilities manager told the court there had been no risk assessment when the cubes were installed to stop vehicles entering the walkway. The court found that a risk assessment should have accounted for the area’s heavy pedestrian use.
Mr Justice Barr concluded that the isolated, low obstacles created a danger when the walkway was busy and breached UCD’s duty of care as an occupier. He said posts could have prevented vehicle access without creating the same trip hazard. He did not resolve conflicting evidence about a telephone conversation between McNamara and a UCD safety officer, and made no finding that UCD had admitted liability in that conversation.
McNamara, who was 65 at the time of the judgment, sustained a fracture to the head of his left radius. Medical evidence described a good recovery but some lasting restriction of movement and symptoms, particularly when driving. The court awarded €45,000 for general damages to date, €20,000 for future pain and suffering, and €765 in special damages. The judgment did not state a separate costs order.