Contributory Negligence Will Be Equal When Deceased Car Driver Didn’t Take Sufficient Care While Undertaking & Lorry Was Not Being Driven At Normal Speed: Supreme Court
The appeal before the Supreme Court was filed by the claimants against an order determining the contributory negligence of the deceased driver of the car at 70%. Determining the deceased car driver's negligence at 50%, the Supreme Court awarded half the amount of compensation to the claimants and explained that neither the car driver took sufficient care while undertaking the lorry nor the lorry was being driven at a normal speed. The appeal before the Apex Court was filed by the claimants from an order of the High Court, determining the contributory negligence of the deceased driver of the car, whose death was sought to be compensated at 70%. The Division Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K. Vinod Chandran said, “The fact remains that there was a collision, and that the car was dragged to a distance of 20 feet after the collision, clearly indicating rash and negligent driving on the part of the lorry driver. We are hence inclined to find that the contributory negligence on the drivers will be equal, since there is fault on the part of the car driver in not taking sufficient care when overtaking, while the impact could have been avoided or gravity lessened, if the lorry had been driven in normal speed. Hence, apportionment of liability can be fixed at 50% for each.”
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