Negligent driver ordered to pay €45,000 to accident victim

A failure to keep a proper lookout has led to a collision which left one motorist losing the use of his index finger and another one ordered to pay nearly €45,000 in compensation.

The courts heard how John Mallia had been driving home one day in December 2014 when he collided with a Toyota Starlet driven by Kevin Fiorini which had pulled out of a parking bay in Triq in Dolmen, Marsascala, without warning.

Mallia had swerved to avoid the other vehicle, but had made contact with the car’s front wheels, causing the Yaris to end up on its side and damaging four other parked cars.

Fiorini had been sued for damages by Mallia, who claimed that the accident had been caused by the other party’s negligence as he exited the parking bay. Fiorini had denied responsibility, claiming that the fault for the accident lay with Mallia who had been driving too fast to avoid colliding with him.

Judge Lawrence Mintoff, deciding the case, observed that the two accounts he was given were conflicting and so sought corroboration with other evidence, including police sketches, accident reports, the absence of brake marks and the fact that Fiorini had said that he hadn’t heard the approaching vehicle.

It also noted that Fiorini had been inconsistent in his account, first telling police that he had checked his mirror and seen the coast was clear, but later claiming to have not sensed the presence of the other car right before impact.  “This is a typical reaction of a person who is not keeping a proper lookout…which must be kept at all times when exiting from a parking space onto the road,” observed the court.

Fiorini’s two passengers had not seen anything before the impact, the court was told.

On the basis of the evidence brought before it, the court reached the conclusion that the accident was caused by the defendant’s failure to “see what is in plain view,” by keeping a proper lookout.

Indeed, the Fiorini had also failed to use his indicator to signal his intention to pull out of the parking space, noted the court, saying this was  “surely because of his poor judgment that, upon seeing an empty road, presuming that he didn’t need to use his indicator or look at his mirrors as he exited.”

In establishing the amount payable in damages, the court observed that Mallia had suffered a 10% permanent disability as a result of the collision, condemning the defendant to pay €44,817.03 for the injuries suffered and loss of future earnings.