Car crash award halved for man who travelled with drunk driver

A man who suffered brain injuries in a car crash has had a €660,000 damages award almost halved by a High Court judge.

The decision is primarily due to the fact the man had travelled in a car with a driver whom he knew had been on “a drinking spree”.

Three others, including a pregnant woman, died in what Mr Justice Kevin Cross described as the “truly horrific” crash.

The judge found Michael Tevlin (35) was 45 per cent negligent in the matter. He attributed 35 per cent negligence due to Mr Tevlin knowingly allowing himself to be carried in a car knowing its driver had been drinking, plus 10 per cent neglience for not wearing a seatbelt.

On those grounds, Mr Justice Cross ruled the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland must pay €364,000 of the total €660,000 award. After the MIBI said it intended to appeal to the new Court of Appeal, he agreed to put a stay on his ruling on condition €150,000 is paid out to Mr Tevlin pending appeal.

The judge had been told Mr Tevlin has no memory of the crash. The court heard a car, in which Mr Tevlin was a back seat passenger, had veered across the Carrickmacross bypass road when its driver Kevin McArdle, whom Mr Tevlin was drinking with earlier, attempted to overtake on December 27th, 2010.

McArdle’s car crashed into a car driven by Stephen Connolly whose 39-year old pregnant wife, Roisin, was killed. Two 27-year old men, who were passengers in McArdle’s car, also died.

Mr Tevlin, Lisankisky, Kingscourt, Co Cavan, later sued Mr McArdle, Longfield, Carrickmacross, and the MIBI over the injuries he recieved.

Judgment was previously granted against McArdle, who is serving a prison sentence for dangerous driving causing death, in default of appearance.

Today, Mr Justice Cross gave judgment on Mr Tevlin’s claim against the MIBI.

The circumstances of the high-speed head-on collision were truly horrific, he said. Mr Tevlin and McArdle had been on what had been rightly described as a drinking spree around various licenses premises in Cavan, Louth and Meath, he noted.

Between 9.30am and 6pm on December 27th, Mr Tevlin consumed 12 pints of beer and four half measures of spirits and McArdle had 10 and a half pints of beer and five half measures of spirits.

The judge said he could not accept the proposition, because Mr Tevlin allowed himself to be driven by McArdle when both had clearly consumed over the legal limits of alchohol, the driver owed no duty of care to him.

There was a considerable difference between a driver being urged on by a passenger to speed and what was a tragic result from an enterprise that undoubtedly commenced as a “misguided exercise in post Christmas camraderie”, he said.

He noted the MIBI had urged that public policy should prevent an intoxicated passenger recovering damages against an intoxicated driver.

However, the negligence of the driver, almost always, and “certainly in this case”, was greater than that of the passenger, the judge found.

He found 35 per cent contributory negligence on Mr Tevlin’s part arising from allowing himself to be carried in a car when he knew its driver had been drinking. The degree of fault on the person whose intoxication was the prime cause of the crash must be greater than that of Mr Tevlin who allowed himself to be carried, he said.

The award should be reduced by a further 10 per cent due to Mr Tevlin not wealring a seatbelt.