A farmer brought an action of damages against a corporation for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligent driving of an electrically propelled tramcar belonging to them. He averred that while driving home two cows along a public road about five o’clock on a January afternoon he was run into by the car. It was proved that the car struck the foremost cow, that immediately thereafter and before the car stopped the driver felt a bump, and that the farmer was found lying unconscious on the ground to the rear of the car on the near side. The driver admitted that the car was travelling at the rate of about nine miles an hour, and it was proved that the night though cloudy was not dark, it being within two days of full moon. The farmer was unable to give any evidence as to how the accident happened, having lost his memory in consequence of the injury, and no further evidence was available. In an action of damages at his instance against the tramway company, held ( rev. judgment of the Second Division) that the evidence justified the inference that the pursuer’s injuries were due to the fault of the defenders.
Lord Buckmaster, Lord Finlay, Lord Dunedin, Lord Atkinson, and Lord Shaw
[1919] UKHL 186, 56 SLR 186
Bailii
Scotland
Personal Injury
Updated: 10 January 2022; Ref: scu.632765