Woman injured in head-on collision awarded €10,000

A court has awarded a woman who suffered a permanent disability in a 2006 head-on collision over €10,000 in damages, after finding the driver of the other vehicle entirely responsible for the accident.

In a judgment handed down earlier today, Madame Justice Anna Felice held van driver John Grech liable for the accident which occurred when his van skidded on the wet surface of Dawret il-Gudja in Gudja, on the 12  February 2006.

The defendant had already been found guilty of dangerous and negligent driving during criminal proceedings regarding the same incident by a court of magistrates in its criminal jurisdiction. The police had noted that the defendant had smelled of alcohol at the scene but had refused to submit to a breathalyzer test and had been disqualified from holding a driving licence for three months.

This, together with the fact that he had also confirmed, under cross-examination, that it was only his van that had skidded on the wet surface – the woman's car had not been out of control at any time.

The court found Grech liable for a total of €10, 094 in damages; €4,739 of which were in respect of damages arising directly from the incident, and the remaining €5,354 representing the woman's lost earnings and on account of a 3% disability she suffered as a result of the collision.