Pop group smash poses claims fear for haulier
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• Haulier Freightliners and bus operator Berryhurst could face damages claims of thousands of pounds following a coach crash three years ago involving pop group Bucks Fizz.
The two companies are fighting a High Court battle to decide who must pay the 21,403 damages a judge has awarded to one of the group's road managers injured in the accident — and the outcome could mean further expensive claims from other passengers.
Set designer Richard Dale was left bruised and shaken after a head-on collision between the band's bus and a Freightliners' Volvo truck in December 1984. He sued truck driver Robert Morrison, bus driver Peter Black and bus owner Berryhurst of Kennington, London. All have denied responsibility.
Out-of-court damages were awarded to Dale, and in January a judge will decide who must pay them after hearing both sides' arguments in a separate High Court case last week.
Berryhurst sued Freightliners, alleging that the lorry struck timber blocks on a contraflow system and jack-knifed into the path of the coach. Freightliners denied liability, claiming that the coach driver was going too fast, talking with passengers and not keeping a proper look-out.
Dale was off work for three weeks and took three months to fully recover. The band and its road crew had just left Newcastle upon Tyne after a concert when its coach was in collision with the truck. Bucks Fizz singer Mike Nolan was seriously injured, and 11 others were hurt.