A London court has rejected a claim that the government was partly to blame for a freak rail crash that killed 10 people in 2001, dismissing a suit brought by insurer Fortis.
Fortis was the insurer for motorist Gary Hart whose Land Rover plunged over the side of a bridge and into the path of a high-speed passenger train which then derailed. The firm argued the state had been negligent in failing to provide longer safety barriers at the bridge in Selby, northern England.
Hart had fallen asleep at the wheel when his car tumbled over the bridge and hit the tracks. He survived the cash and was jailed for five years for causing the 10 deaths.
Fortis has so far paid out £22 million in compensation but argued the government should contribute toward the payouts it had already made and toward others it might have to make in the future.
Fortis said that if the safety barrier had been longer, Hart's vehicle would not have been able to crash on to the railway line, a claim thrown out by the High Court.