Jack Scott Zeneida Scott Claimants v Wayne Robinson Catherine Tyson Defendants
| Jurisdiction | Antigua and Barbuda |
| Judge | GONSALVES, J. [Ag] |
| Judgment Date | 21 October 2010 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [2010] ECSC J1021-1 |
| Date | 21 October 2010 |
| Court | High Court (Antigua) |
| Docket Number | CLAIM NO. ANUHCV2009/0056 |
THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CLAIM NO. ANUHCV2009/0056
Mr. Septimus Rhudd for the Claimants
Mrs. Eleanor Solomon for the Defendants
This case arises out of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on the 14 th day of November, 2004 along Market Street in the city of St. John, involving Toyota motor car registration number A15155 owned by the First-named Claimant Jack Scott and being driven at the time by the Second-named Claimant his wife Zeneida Scott, and Honda CR-V motor jeep registration number A8863 owned by the Second-named Defendant Catherine Tyson and being driven at the time by the First-named Defendant, her son Wayne Robinson. At the commencement of the trial Mr, Rhudd indicated that Mr. Jack Scott was now deceased and that the trial would therefore be proceeding with the remaining Claimant alone.
In their Statement of Claim, the Claimants averred that the accident was caused entirely by the negligence of the First-named Defendant, Mr, Robinson, while he was driving as the servant and/or agent of the Second-named Defendant, his mother Mrs. Tyson. The Defendants denied this and counterclaimed that the accident was caused entirely by the negligence of the Second-named Claimant, Mrs, Scott, driving as agent and /or servant of the First-named Claimant, Mr. Scott.
Mrs. Scott's evidence was that she was the owner of Toyota Corolla Motor car licensed A 15155, Her evidence was that the car was registered in the name of her husband Jack Scott but had been given to her as a gift in January 2001. She denied that she was driving as Mr. Scott's servant or agent. On November 14, 2004 at about 10:45 p.m. she was driving the car, proceeding from west to east on lower Nevis Street in St. John. She was driving at approximately 10 miles per hour as she had just pulled away from being parked on the same Nevis Street. On her arrival at the intersection of Nevis and Market Streets, she applied her brakes and came to a full stop. She looked right and in a southerly direction along Market Street to be sure that it was safe to cross the intersection. She observed that cars were parked on the left side of Market Street a few yards away from the intersection with Nevis Street. She stated that the way the vehicles were parked made it difficult for her to see along the length of Market Street.
Her evidence was that she then proceeded to slowly and cautiously enter the intersection. Her vehicle was then struck by a motor jeep coming from her right along Market Street. She later learnt that the jeep was being driven by Mr. Robinson. The jeep was coming along, she said, at an excessive rate of speed. As a result of the impact, her vehicle was spun around 180 degrees and suffered extensive damage to the front twisting the body of the vehicle to the left. The jeep being driven by Mr. Robinson ended up approximately 49 feet from the area where the collision occurred, also spun 180 degrees, and also suffered damage.
Mrs. Scott said that she was not speeding and did not drive through the intersection and neither was she driving recklessly. The accident, she said, was caused by Mr. Robinson who was driving at an excessive speed and swerving to avoid vehicles turning onto Nevis Street.
Under cross-examination, Mrs. Scott was showed a picture of the jeep that Mr. Robinson was driving and acknowledged that the picture showed the left side of that vehicle to have been smashed in. She acknowledged that that damage would have been caused by something hitting Mr. Robinson's vehicle in that area. She said Mr. Robinson swerved to avoid a car that was coming into Nevis Street that was in front of him. When asked how would it have been possible for him to swerve if the car was in front of him her answer was simply that when the car turned Mr. Robinson swerved. Mrs. Scott was asked where Mr. Robinson swerved to and her answer was that he swerved behind the car. Mrs. Solomon asked Mrs. Scott to explain how was it that Mr. Robinson could have been travelling at an excessive speed if there was a car in front of him. Mrs. Scott's answer was that when the car turned Mr. Robinson was going at an excessive speed. She maintained that Mr. Robinson was travelling very fast.
Mrs. Solomon asked Mrs. Scott to explain why she moved out into the intersection if she saw Mr. Robinson driving at an excessive speed. Mrs. Scott's answer was that when she saw Mr. Robinson's vehicle she stopped. She denied that it was her vehicle that collided into Mr. Robinson's vehicle or that she was driving fast at the time. She further stated that as a result of the collision her vehicle was spun around 180 degrees. She acknowledged that this occurred because of the impact of her car with Mr. Robinson's jeep.
Mr. Robinson's evidence was that at around 11:30 p.m. on 14 th November, 2004 he was driving his mother's jeep up Market Street, that is from south to north along Market Street at approximately 15 miles per hour. He described Market Street as being a one way street and said that there was no traffic in front or behind of him. As he was passing the Happy Kids Store along Market Street, he noticed headlights coming up Nevis Street, that is driving east to west. He thought the car would have stopped at the stop sign at the corner of Nevis and Market Streets. But as he continued to drive, the car collided into the left side of the jeep. According to Mr. Robinson the car was travelling at approximately 45 miles per hour.
At the time his friend Larry Jacobs was with him in the jeep, sitting in the front on the passenger side. It turns out that this would have been the right front as the jeep was a left hand drive. Mr. Robinson said that he was wearing his seatbelt when the accident occurred. At the time of the initial impact, the jeep was in the middle of Market and Nevis Streets. The jeep eventually ended up on the eastern side of the Paris Shoe Store, in an area called Judgment Square.
As a result of the accident his knee was injured. He got out of the jeep and realized that the front and back door on the left side were completely smashed in and the driver's window was broken. The jeep, he said, was a left hand drive. His friend Larry came out of the jeep before he did and complained about body and chest pain. He did not know whether or not Larry had been wearing a seatbelt. A passer-by stranger called for an ambulance and Larry was taken to the hospital. Mrs. Scott and two other women came out of the other car. They were not injured and Mrs. Scott went to a phone booth and made a call. Shortly thereafter Mr. Jack Scott arrived on the scene. Mr. Robinson then called his mother at around 11:45 pm. At around 12:30 p.m. (sic) two police officers arrived and took measurements and he gave a statement to the police.
It was Mr. Robinson's evidence that the accident occurred as a result of the recklessness and fast driving of Mrs. Scott. The jeep, he stated, was never repaired because it was beyond repair as the chassis was destroyed. The jeep had been taken to Keith Edwards a mechanic who provided an estimate of the pre-accident value of the jeep of $42, 500.00 and a post accident value of $,000.00. Some of the parts were sold by his mother. The court noted that a copy of the repair estimate of Mr. Edwards was included in the Trial Bundle.
In cross—examination Mr. Robinson indicated that he was a licensed driver since 1996. He indicated that he was coming from home intending to go to Yorks to drop off someone and then to pick up his wife. He could not recall exactly at what time he had left home that night but thought it might have been some time just after 11:00 p.m. He recalled that there were cars parked along the left side of Market Street and he acknowledged Market Street to be a very long street and a single lane street. He did not recall how many cars were parked along that street but did recall that cars were parked along the street close to the area where the accident occurred. He said he had travelled on that road both before and also after the accident and acknowledged that sometimes there are taxis parked in that area on that side {left side) of Market Street and that that area is sometimes used as a taxi stand at night. He stated that there were cars parked in that area on the left hand side but he could not recall how many. When asked whether he agreed that if someone was exiting from Nevis Street and there are cars parked in that area, that the driver would have to come out in the road to see if there were cars coming down, his answer was that it depended on how close the cars were parked. It was not necessary, he said, to drive out that much, maybe a little bit but not that much. He did not agree with the suggestion that if he stopped at the stop sign of Nevis Street, and cars were parked to his right (that is on the left side of Market Street) that if he looked to the right he would not have a clear vision of the vehicles coming up Market Street.
In further cross examination, Mr. Robinson maintained that he was travelling at about 15 miles per hour and that that was his speed for the entire length of Market Street. He did not look at his speedometer but was certain that he was not going "that fast". He agreed that according to the circumstances, even 30 miles per hour would not be considered "that fast" but said that 40 miles per hour could be considered "a little bit fast". He stated that he was right at the comer of the intersection when he noticed the headlights from Mrs. Scott's car and at that time he had no idea of how far away the vehicle was and that he thought the car would have stopped at the stop sign. He said that the jeep would have travelling more to the...
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