Driver Fainted: Accident Inevitable, Says Judge
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AN accident in Birmingham in which a man was injured when the driver of a bus fainted apd the vehicle rolled backwards, was inevitable, Mr. Justice Devlin ruled at Birmingham Assizes last Friday.
He dismissed an action in which Mr. Noel Spencer Newey, 20 St. Andrews Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, claimed damages from the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., for injuries sustained when he was struck by the bus. He was working on the beacon of a zebra crossing on the Bull Ring when the bus rolled backwards down the hill.
The accident. Mr. Justice Devlin said, occurred because the driver was suddenly seized by an attack of giddiness. The defence had to explain how the accident happened, and they put forward an explanation to show it happened without any lack of diligence on the company's part.
As far as the company were concerned, their contention had not been challenged. They took all proper steps to see that the driver was a person suitable for the task.
It had been alleged that there was an interval of time--a second had been suggested—in which the driver should have pulled on the hand brake. That did not amount to negligence.
It had been suggested that the driver ought not to have been driving because he had suffered from an attack of giddiness more than two years before, and the circumstances from which he then suffered the attack were similar— emotional stress and not feeding himself properly.
"I am not able to take the view that that amounts to negligence," said he judge.
The company did not apply for costs. The judge said he thought they were right in not doing so.