Elizabeth Milbourn examines the courts’ approach to liability to injured bus passengers
CCTV evidence played a critical part in absolving the bus driver of fault in Christian v South East London and Kent Bus Company [2014] EWCA Civ 944. A passenger was injured when the driver had to brake suddenly to avoid a collision with a car which had cut in front of the bus. The claimant suffered injuries when she was thrown forward and another passenger landed on her. The trial judge dismissed the claim, after considering the CCTV footage and stills from the bus’ on-board cameras. The claimant’s appeal, on the grounds that the trial judge had erred as to the causes of the bus driver’s braking, was dismissed.
The Court of Appeal in Christian also reiterated the reluctance of appellant courts to interfere in overturning findings of fact made at trial, for example, per Lord Hoffmann in Piglowska v Piglowska [1999] 1 WLR 1360, [1999] 3 All ER 632.
The courts’ approach
In Christian , the matter turned on the reasonableness of a bus driver’s reactions over a four-second period.
