A road traffic accident claim brought by a pedestrian who suffered “significant injuries” after being hit by a bus has been dismissed in court.
The pedestrian suffered a number of injuries as a result of the collision, including a head injury but the court ruled that the driver of the bus “was not negligent”.
The main issue debated in court was whether it had been the failure of the driver to stop in adequate time or if it was the actions of the pedestrian “who ran in to the path of the approaching bus” that had been negligent.
In reaching his verdict, the judge looked into all contributing factors including whether the driver’s failure to apply the emergency brake in the lead-up to the collision was negligent when taking into account the safety of the passengers of the bus.
The Court ruled that the actions of the bus driver had not been negligent explaining that while he was found not to have seen the pedestrian, “even had he done so at the point at which it could be found that a risk could have been reasonably anticipated, it was already too late for the collision to have been avoided at all or the collision to have been avoided without serious risk to others.”
The judge pointed out that the pedestrian ignored the ‘red man’ signal at the pedestrian crossing but that this would “not in of itself be negligent.” However “the red signal is at least a warning to stop and look and had he done so he would have seen the bus,” the Judge went on.
Concluding that the claimant “simply ran out into the road in front of the bus”, the Judge dismissed the case.