PI Brief Update

20/04/17. In McGeer v Macintosh (2017 EWCA Civ.79), the Defendant’s appeals both against primary liability and the assessment of contributory negligence risen from a road traffic accident involving an HGV and a cyclist were both dismissed. Having rejected the Defendant’s appeal on primary liability, Lord Justice Treacy considered the question of apportionment. Notwithstanding that the Claimant had cycled to the nearside of the Defendants’ vehicle when it had been indicating left, the Court of Appeal upheld a finding of 70% liability on the Defendant. In paragraph 28 of the Judgment, Lord Justice Treacy stated,

“I consider that whilst the Judge had found that both parties were at fault in the respects identified by the Judge, it was appropriate for him to take into account the causative potency of the HGV, giving the likelihood of very serious injury to a cyclist in the event of a collision. Although Mr Herbert sought to discount this on the basis of the low speed of the HGV, I consider that the Judge was entitled to find that it was potentially a very dangerous machine. Its size and bulk were such that in the event of a collision it constituted a very serious danger to a person in the position of the Claimant. I therefore see no basis for interfering with the Judge’s assessment, and, for the reasons given, would dismiss this aspect of the appeal.”...

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