A man was yesterday ordered to pay a woman Lm38,000 in compensation after a court ruled that he was solely responsible for a traffic accident which resulted in the victim having a 55 per cent disability.
The First Hall of the Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, ruled that Paul Caruana, from Bahar Ic-Caghaq, was driving dangerously and negligently, and according to a court expert was driving at a speed of around 95 kilometres per hour.
The court expert calculated the speed from the 35-metre brake mark on the site of the traffic accident.
The accident took place at around 11.45pm on 30 August 2000 in St Andrew’s Road in Bahar Ic-Caghaq, better known as the Coast Road. Mr Caruana was driving a left-hand-drive white BMW with foreign number plates in the direction of Bugibba when he lost control of his car, overturned and crossed over to the other lane and crashed into a Volkswagen Polo being driven by Anne Fiona Dowling.
The BMW came to rest in a trench at the side of the road and soon after was engulfed in flames. Mr Caruana managed to get out of the car in time.
As a result of this accident, Ms Dowling lost consciousness and suffered severe injuries, which resulted in neurological, orthopaedic, ophthalmic and psychological problems which amounted to a 55 per cent disability.
The court heard how Mr Caruana at first did not admit that he was driving the BMW and even told the car’s owner, Raimondo Valerio Corradi, to tell the police that he was driving the car which was involved in the traffic accident.
In fact, Mr Corradi told police this version but the following day Mr Caruana had a change of heart and approached the Inquiring Magistrate to admit that he was driving the car.
Ms Dowling’s sister-in-law, Brigette Perignon, told the court that she happened to be driving through the same road at the time of the accident. She said she saw the BMW on fire and saw Mr Caruana stopping people to speak to them. Later on she noticed that her brother’s wife was driving the Polo.
Another eyewitness, John Correia, said he was driving behind the Polo when he noticed a car on the opposite lane overtaking the car being driven in front of it and soon after saw the car overturning and crashing into the car being driven in front of him. He said found Ms Dowling sitting unconscious in her car.
Mr Justice Mallia said the court has no doubt that Mr Caruana was solely responsible for the incident and even though he said that he lost control because of a bright light, he should have been more careful and have driven diligently. The court said this was not an excuse for driving negligently, dangerously and haphazardly.
The court noted that Ms Dowling spent a total of Lm934 in medical expenses. She suffered a number of neurological problems as well as orthopaedic ones, damaged her face and suffered from double-vision. Mr Justice Mallia calculated the compensation based on the 55 per cent disability she suffered as a result of the traffic accident and awarded her Lm38,060, including the medical expenses she had to fork out.
Dr Richard Camilleri appeared for Ms Dowling while Dr Edward Zammit Lewis appeared for Mr Caruana.