Olivia Bennett v Timothy Southwell
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Griffith Williams |
| Judgment Date | 01 August 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] EWHC 2382 (QB) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: HQ12X037862. |
| Date | 01 August 2013 |
[2013] EWHC 2382 (QB)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
The Honourable Mr Justice Griffith Williams
Case No: HQ12X037862.
(TLQ/B/0001)
David Sanderson (instructed by Stewarts Law) for the Claimant
Roger Harris (instructed by Clyde & Co) for the Defendant
Hearing dates: 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd July 2013
Introduction
This is a claim, arising out of a collision between a VW Golf and a Range Rover on the Lexham Road, East Dereham in Norfolk. The VW Golf was driven by Olivia Bennett ("the Claimant"); she has been driving since she was 17 years; she had not been involved previously in any road traffic accident; she has never had any penalty points added to her driving licence. The Range Rover was driven by Timothy Southwell, ("the Defendant"); he was 40 years old at the date of the accident; he has no driving convictions.
By order dated 17 December 2012, Master Yoxall ordered the trial of liability be tried first. Following a hearing on 1, 2 and 3 July judgment was reserved. This is the judgment of the Court.
The Scene
Lexham Road is an unclassified country road, which on the approaches to the site of the collision passes through heavy woodland. The national speed limit of 60mph applies to the road. There were no road markings in the centre of the carriageway or at its edges. The tarmacadam surface tapered to a line of earth or mud before the grass verge. The carriageway width at the site of the collision is agreed to be 4.65metres. The width of the VW golf was 1.73metres. The width of the Range Rover was 1.93 metres. There was therefore enough room for the two vehicles, if occupying their proper side of the carriageway, to be driven past each other safely.
The claimant was driving in the direction of Castle Acre and West Lexham. The defendant was driving in the opposite direction towards Litcham. The collision occurred on a bend, a left-hand bend in the claimant's direction of travel and a right-hand bend in the defendant's direction of travel. For both drivers, the approach to the bend was along a straight stretch of road. For the defendant, that straight stretch of road had a slight uphill gradient. The view of each driver around the bend on the approach to the point of collision was estimated by the expert witnesses to be in the region of 60-70 metres.
The Evidence
The claimant, who had spent the weekend with a friend in Litcham, was driving alone to visit her parents for a late Sunday lunch; she was, I accept, under no pressure of time. She was very familiar with the road, having driven it regularly over a number of years. As she approached the bend, she noticed a red coloured Mazda MX5 coming out of the bend in the opposite direction of travel. She described the Mazda "zipping" past her "quite quickly" but there was no need for her or the driver of the Mazda to change course and they passed each other easily. From the point of entering the bend, she only has brief flashes of memory. She believed that she was braking as she entered the bend and recalled seeing the "nose" of the Range Rover poking around the bend in the distance. Her next memory is of seeing the Range Rover almost in front of her. She has a memory of braking and turning the steering wheel to the left but it seemed that no matter how hard she turned the wheel to the left, the car would not respond and she drove into collision with the Range Rover.
The defendant, his wife and daughter were following their friends Geoffrey and Renata Garfoot in the red Mazda car on their way to a dog show. The defendant's evidence was that the red Mazda car was about 150 metres ahead of him and he was travelling at 40-45 mph. In his witness statement, he said that the off-side of the Range Rover was toward the middle of the road but not on the middle part of the road — following the experts' evidence ( post) he resiled from this earlier claim that he was driving completely on his proper side of the carriageway and accepted the offside of the Range Rover was partly over a notional centre line. Suddenly he saw the VW Golf coming off the bend, in the middle of the road and possibly some 70 metres away. The driver of the VW Golf made no attempt to drive to her nearside. In his witness statement, he said that when he saw the VW Golf coming off the bend, it was probably travelling at 60mph or so. He slammed on his brakes and turned to his nearside in an attempt to avoid the collision but the VW Golf kept coming towards him. At the point of collision he had regained his side of the carriageway completely, with his nearside on or close to the verge.
Renata Garfoot, who was driving the red Mazda, estimated that they were about 100 yds ahead of the defendant and his family. Her estimate of her speed was that it was probably a bit under 40mph as she came out of the bend and that the defendant must have been travelling at a similar speed because he was not catching up with her. She noticed the approaching VW Golf. She said it was travelling "fairly quickly" but not at such a speed as to give her any cause for concern; she said that when she heard the noise of the accident, she remembered being surprised that there had been a collision.
Geoffrey Garfoot confirmed his wife's evidence. He said as the VW Golf approached, it moved slightly to its nearside but that was only because the road was not particularly wide at that point. He said that as the VW Golf passed, he recalled no conversation with his wife about the speed and recalled no concern about its speed but he remembered thinking it was travelling faster than he would have travelled on that stretch of road.
Of the speed of the Mazda, the claimant said that she recalled having a moment's thought that she must tell her father that the red sports car was travelling too quickly for the road. Of her own speed, the claimant said that she believed that she was travelling between 30 to 40 miles per hour because she presumed that there was a speed limit of some 40mph on the country road. She said that she never drives at faster than 40mph on that road. She said that of all her friends, she is known to be a cautious driver. When cross-examined and asked why she made a mental note to tell her father about the red Mazda, she said she cannot now say why she did so but she accepted that the Mazda had unsettled her in some way.
The defendant said that when he went to help the claimant after the collision, he found her trapped and clearly badly injured. His evidence was that she kept saying "I've been so stupid". While the defendant's wife, Mr and Mrs Garfoot all went to the VW Golf, none heard any such comment. Mr Garfoot observed that the claimant was in no fit state to discuss the accident.
Police Constable Smart, who attended soon after the collision, spoke to the defendant. The defendant told him that the VW Golf "seemed to come out of nowhere at some...
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