Jonathan Aspinall juggles liability & apportionment
The recent case of Rehill v Rider Holdings Limited [2012] EWCA Civ 628, [2012] All ER (D) 206 (May) is an interesting example of the pressures placed upon road traffic accident (RTA) practitioners to seek as much factual based evidence as possible if they are to prevail when fighting their corner on liability. It involved a pedestrian who was knocked down by a bus at a controlled pedestrian crossing, but then had his award reduced from two thirds to 50% by the Court of Appeal.
In the post-Christmas sales in 2005 a bus had just set off from a bus stop in Bradford City Centre. It was lunchtime and pedestrians were plentiful. The bus travelled a short distance towards a controlled pedestrian crossing which was at red (against pedestrians). It was found that the bus was travelling at four mph at this point. The claimant stepped off the nearside pavement onto the crossing or carriageway (it wasn’t clear which) and into the path of the bus. He sustained serious injuries.
The driver of the bus was
