A cyclist and Dublin bike shop owner has been awarded just over €20,000 by the High Court after a motorist in a Range Rover ran over his foot while he was cycling.
Pat Deegan
insisted in his action that he had not broken a red light just before the
driver went over his foot.
However, the judge
ruled that on the balance of probabilities – and because of evidence from a
witness – Mr Deegan had broken the light moments before the collision.
And because of that
the court found he was 60 per cent liable for what happened, with the driver
found to be 40 per cent liable.
Mr Deegan, a 49-year-old from Rathfarnham, south Dublin, sued Jennifer McPartlin over the incident in Donnybrook, south Dublin, almost five years ago.
Mr Justice David Keane was told that Mr Deegan was cycling to his business – a bike shop he is a director of – in Sandymount, on May 18th, 2015, when he was injured.
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Mr Deegan told the
court that Ms McPartlin came out of Brookvale Rd, via a Yield sign junction,
onto Eglinton Rd and hit him as he waited for traffic to clear at the edge of a
yellow box.
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Her Range Rover went over his foot, causing fractures to his left tibia and fibia, necessitating surgery.
Ms McPartlin told the court she had slowly come out from the junction to be in a position to better see the road as another motorist gestured her out.
She said she felt
the impact of Mr Deegan's bike and then him banging on the bonnet.
Another cyclist said the lights a short distance away were red and that Mr Deegan had gone through them moments earlier, which he denied.
However, the judge
said that on the balance of probabilities Mr Deegan had broken the lights and
then continued onto the Brookvale Road junction, which he had right of way on.
He also said Ms McPartlin was wrong in assuming because the lights were red there would be no traffic between those lights and the junction she was emerging from, and where she was obliged to yield right of way.
Mr Justice Keane said Ms McPartlin was still responsible for checking that the road was clear, irrespective of the lights a distance away.
Damages were set
at €51,600 and because Mr Deegan was deemed 60 per cent liable the net award to
him was €20,640.
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