Lorry Drivers to Pay Damages Awarded Against Employers
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A LORRY driver who injured his 1-3 father in an accident while at work will have to compensate his employers for the damages and casts awarded against them in favour of the injured man, according to the decision of the Court of Appeal last week.
In January, 1953, Mr. Justice McNair awarded £1,6110 damages and costs to Mr. Martin Alfred Lister, Snr., against his employers, the Romford Ice and Cold Storage Co., Ltd., Romford, Essex, for injury he suffered when his son, Mr. Martin Alfred Lister, Hamlet Road, Romford, also employed by the company, knocked him down while driving a lorry.
Insurers, in the name of the company, sued Mr. Lister, Inn, for compensation in February this year and Mr. Justice °lettered awarded them the amount of the damages and costs plus two-thirds of the costs of the action.
Mr. Lister's a pp e al against this judgment was dismissed by a majority of two to one. The question of costs of the appeal was deferred.
Lord Justice Birkett said damages were claimed against Mr. Lister, Inn, for breach of an implied term of the contract of service that he should drive the company's lorries with reasonable care and skill, or for negligence. He held they were entitled to sue their employee for breach of contract.
Mr. Lister had claimed he should not be asked to drive the lorries unless he was covered by insurance-under the Road Traffic Act, 1930, but his lordship held that the accident, which took place in a yard, did not occur on a road within the meaning of the Act.
Company's Duty He thought the damage caused to the company was the result of Mr. Lister's breach of contract. He did not think the fact that the company was insured made Mr. Lister immune from being stied. Nor was there a duty for the company to insure their employee against liability for injuries caused, as in this case, to a fellow employee.
His lordship thought Mr. Justice Orrnerod was right and the appeal should be dismissed. Lord Justice Romer agreed.
In a dissenting judgment, Lord Justice Denning did not agree that there was an implied term in the contract of service for the driver to act with reasonable care and skill. It would be going too far to say he was in breach of contract. He did not think the employers had a right to indemnity in the absence 144 of an express contract. An employer who had been fully indemnified by his insurance company should not be allowed to sue his servant for contribution or indemnity.
His lordship also held that Mr. Lister should have been covered by an insurance policy in respect of a claim by anyone, including fellow employees. He considered that the accident was covered by the Road Traffic Act.
OBITUARY
WEregret to record the deaths of SIR ARTHUR DU CROS, MR. C. V. 0. BINDING and MR. JAMES EDWARD WARNER.
Sir Arthur was a pioneer • of the pneumatic-tyre industry. He joined his father and brothers in the newly formed Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. in 1892, and was later chairman and managing director, and president of the Dunlop Rubber Co.. During the 1914-18 war he initiated the use of motor ambulances. He was 84.
Mr. Binding was managing director of Western Engineering and Motor Services, Ltd., and Engineering Productions (Clevedon) Ltd. He was 39 and had been ill for a year.
Mr. Warner was a Rochdale haulier and a .former director and member of the Rochdale Transport and Trading Co., Ltd. He was 59.
CLEANING LARGE FLOORS
A NEW attachment for the Filtavae RM22 vacuum cleaner can be used for cleaning large floors and gangways
• at walking pace and, it is claimed, obviates the need to use rotary-type appliances. The makers are Filtavac, Ltd., 27a Holland Street, London, W.8.
The attachment, known as the Chevron Floorsweeper, is made in widths of 1 ft. 6 in., 2 ft. and 2 ft. 6 in. A 4-ft. 2-in. model is made for attachment to the RM44 cleaner.