A car passenger suffered serious injuries in an accident while the car was being driven by a friend. He brought an action of damages against the driver of the car who admitted that the accident was caused by his fault. The defender averred that when the pursuer entered the car he knew that the defender’s ability to drive had been so affected by drink as to endanger his passengers’ safety and he also knew that the car was so overcrowded as to render the safe steering and control of the car difficult. The defender further averred that the pursuer knew that because of both the drunkenness of the driver and the overcrowding of the car he ran a risk of grave injury by allowing himself to be driven in the said car, and by entering the car he voluntarily accepted the said risk. In these circumstances, the defender pleaded inter alia that the pursuer had voluntarily accepted the risk of sustaining such injuries as he did sustain. It was held by Lord Kilbrandon that these averments were relevant.
Citations:
1964 SLT 121
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Cited – McTear v Imperial Tobacco Ltd OHCS 31-May-2005
The pursuer sought damages after her husband’s death from lung cancer. She said that the defenders were negligent in having continued to sell him cigarettes knowing that they would cause this.
Held: The action failed. The plaintiff had not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Torts – Other
Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.226228
