by Linda Straker
- Incident occurred on 18 September 2019
- Court found Jaworksi Toussaint breached duty as driver of motor vehicle
- Claimant Dikid Joseph represented by Derick Sylvester
Almost 4 years after a vehicular accident involving a truck belonging to Grenlec and a truck with the registration number TAD21 occurred on the Morne Fendue public road, High Court Justice Agnes Actie has ordered the payment of EC$61,825 to the truck driver after hearing a claim for the determination of liability for damage.
“It is therefore ordered and declared as follows:
- Judgment is entered in favour of the claimant against the defendants with 20% contributory negligence apportionment to the claimant
- The defendants shall pay the claimant special damages in the total sum of $61,825 comprising of loss of use for $19,575 and the cost of repairs for $42,250.
- Interest at the rate of 3% per annum from the date of filing the claim until judgment and at the rate of 6% from judgment until payment in full.
- The defendants shall pay the claimant Prescribed Costs on the total sum,” said the judgment which was posted on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court website
The incident occurred on 18 September 2019. The truck was being driven by Jaworksi Toussaint who is labelled as defendant 1, and the Grenlec Electricity Services Limited as defendant 2.
The claimant is Dikid Joseph and he was represented in court by attorney Derick Sylvester. According to the judgment the accident was caused solely by the negligent driving of Toussaint. “The claimant states that the first defendant attempted to avoid the collision by swerving away from the truck, however, the front of the Grenlec truck was veering toward a bridge and telephone pole. To avoid colliding with the bridge and telephone pole, the claimant contends that the first defendant swerved the Grenlec truck away from same, and collided with the front portion or cabin of the claimant’s truck,” said the judgment.
The claimant declared general damages for negligence and/or breach of statutory duty under sections 49 and 50 of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act CAP 201, special damages in the sum of $80,026, interest, and costs.
Linda Dolland and Sephorah Khan represented the defendants in court. They deny the claimant’s allegations of negligence and aver that to the extent that they may be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the claimant, such loss or damage is lessened and diminished by the claimant’s contributory negligence.
The judgment said that the court found that Toussaint breached his duty as a driver of a motor vehicle. “It was not safe, in the circumstances, for the first defendant to have proceeded in the centre of the Morne Fendue public road, and said breach caused the damage sustained by the claimant’s vehicle.”
