There had been an accident in which the driver had lost control of his car. A blood sample taken two-and-a-half hours later showed that his blood alcohol limit was slightly more than twice the permitted maximum for driving. A professor of forensic pathology estimated that at the start of the journey the driver would have been well into the ‘obviously drunk’ state, although he conceded that there could be a great personal variation in the effect of alcohol on different people. The plaintiff called five witnesses who all said that the defendant was behaving normally. The plaintiff, who was sober, saw the defendant drink one pint of lager and had a sensible conversation with him. As they walked to the car, he saw no overt signs to suggest to him that he was drunk. The defendant himself said he had drunk a maximum of four pints of lager in a two hour period, was used to drinking much greater amounts on a regular basis and felt perfectly capable of driving safely.
Held: The court upheld the first instance judge’s finding that the defendant had not established that the plaintiff was in any way guilty of a want of proper care for his safety. In response to a contention that the plaintiff should have taken some steps to enquire of the defendant how much he had consumed, McCowan LJ: ‘… I refuse to accept the proposition that if a man in a public house observes another man drink one pint of lager and give no sign of intoxication, he cannot accept a lift from him without interrogating him as to exactly how much he has had to drink.’
Judges:
McCowan LJ
Citations:
Court of Appeal Transcript, 17 May 1994
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – John James William Booth v Simon White CA 18-Nov-2003
The claimant sought damages after being injured in a car driven by the defendant. The defendant now appealed an award at 1005, saying that the plaintiff had known that he had been drinking. The defendant was known to be a heavy drinker, and he said . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Negligence
Updated: 28 May 2022; Ref: scu.227909
