Driver involved in collision insists against paying damages

The Court of Appeal threw out an appeal filed by a car driver who argued that the motorbike he collided with was not the property of the driver; hence the damages were not incurred by the victim.

The incident happened on 11 January 1999, at 1:15pm, when while driving his Hyundai Stellar in Abate Rigord Street, Ta’ Xbiex, the man was involved in an accident with a Suzuki Intruder motorcycle driven by Jeffrey Caruana. The incident occurred when the car driver did a U-Turn, blocking the way of traffic. 

The motorcycle driver tried to avoid the collision but hit the rear of the car. In the incident the victim suffered grievous injuries leading to permanent disability.

A year later the Civil Court awarded Caruana €13,166 in damages. However the car driver appealed judgment arguing that the amount should be €6,339.

The appellant’s arguments rested on the fact that the motorbike was not registered on the name of the driver, but on his father’s. “The damages to the motorbike were not carried by the victim as he was not the owner of the bike”, he argued.

Nazzareno Caruana, the victim’s father took the witness stand and referred to the vehicle as “my son’s bike”.

The Court understood that while the bike was registered on the father’s name, it belonged to the son. The witness also explained that following the incident, the repairs carried on the bike were paid for by his son Jeffrey Caruana.

Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, and Judges Tonio Mallia and Joseph Azzopardi, threw out the accused’s appeal. The court upheld the first judgement. Moreover the amount to be paid to the victim was marginally increased to €13,698 plus interest from the date of the first judgement.