Crossley v Rawlinson
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Year | 1981 |
| Date | 1981 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
Negligence - Duty of care to whom? - Rescuer - A.A. patrolman running to put out fire on lorry - Injury in fall before reaching lorry - Whether injury foreseeable
The defendant was driving his lorry along a dual carriageway when, as a result of his negligence, a tarpaulin covering the body of the lorry caught fire. The defendant then stopped the lorry on the roadside. The plaintiff, an A.A. patrolman, — was on duty at an A.A. service centre about 100 yards from where the lorry was stopped and saw the fire. He picked up a fire extinguisher and ran out to assist in putting out the fire. While running towards the lorry along a rough path by the side of the road, the plaintiff caught his foot in a concealed hole and fell. He was injured but managed to get up, reached the lorry and extinguished the fire.
In an action by the plaintiff for damages for personal injuries:—
Held, dismissing the action, that although the fire was caused by the defendant's negligence, no reasonable man could reasonably have foreseen that it would cause the plaintiff to suffer injury by running along the path; that the plaintiff's damage was caused by an accident which neither party could reasonably have foreseen; and that, accordingly, the defendant was not liable for the plaintiff's injury and no damages were recoverable (post, pp. 374H–375B).
The following cases are referred to in the judgment:
Chapman v. Hearse (
Corothers v. Slobodian (
Haynes v. Harwood [
Hughes v. Lord Advocate [
Hyett v. Great Western Railway Co. [
Lamb v. Camden London Borough Council [
Videan v. British Transport Commission [
No additional cases were cited in argument.
ACTION
In his statement of claim dated July 18, 1979, the plaintiff, Peter Crossley, alleged that on September 28, 1976, he was on duty as an A.A. patrolman at the Gallows Corner Road A.A. Service Centre next to the A12 dual carriageway road at Romford in Essex when a lorry owned and driven by the defendant, William John Rawlinson, drove along the eastbound half of the dual carriageway and stopped some 300 feet from the service station with the tarpaulin over the body of the lorry ablaze. The road at the time was busy with traffic, and the plaintiff, fearing an explosion, took a fire extinguisher from the service station and ran along a trodden pathway in the adjacent grass verge to put out the fire. The plaintiff was within about 100 feet of the blazing lorry when his foot went into a hole or depression in the verge and he fell over. The plaintiff averred that his fall and the injuries sustained were due to the defendant's negligence.
The defendant's defence served on November 29, 1979, denied that he was guilty of any of the negligence alleged or that such negligence caused or contributed to any injury, loss or damage which the plaintiff might establish. It was further alleged that any injury which the plaintiff might have sustained was caused by his own negligence in that he failed to take any care as to how he moved towards the lorry and that he had voluntarily accepted the risk of sustaining such injury.
The facts are stated in the judgment.
John Crowley for the plaintiff.
George Pulman for the defendant.
RICHARD TUCKER Q.C. In this action the plaintiff sues the defendant for damages in respect of personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff on September 28, 1976, while he was on duty as an A.A. patrolman. The defendant is the owner and was the driver of a lorry. At about 9.15 in the morning, as the defendant was driving the lorry along the A12 road, which is a dual carriageway at Romford in Essex, a tarpaulin covering the body of the lorry caught fire. The defendant accordingly stopped his lorry, partly on the carriageway and partly on the grass verge. The place where he stopped is about 300 feet from the A.A. Service Centre at Gallows Corner where the plaintiff worked. The plaintiff saw what happened. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran towards the lorry intending to put out the fire. He ran along a trodden pathway on the grass verge but unfortunately his foot went into a hole and fell and injured his back. He managed to get to the lorry and thought he had succeeded in dealing with the fire.
The scene is illustrated in a sketch plan forming part of the further and better particulars of the statement of claim, and in six agreed photographs, which were taken on the first anniversary of the accident and at about the same time of day. It can be seen from the plan and from photographs 1 and 2, that there is a layby alongside the A.A. post. There was room on it for the defendant to park his lorry there, but he had not got that far...
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