Man struck by car near Luas stop loses €60,000 damages claim

A man who mistakenly assumed he was crossing a one-way road and failed to look to his left has failed in a €60,000 damages claim against a motorist he collided with on a “dirty, wet” morning in January 2018.

In dismissing the claim by Darren Dunne, a 43-year-old construction worker, Judge James McCourt said the most compelling piece of evidence against him was that he thought it was a one-way system.

Mr Dunne, of Woodleigh Avenue, Blessington, Co Wicklow, sued motorist Sinéad Holt, of Annaville Grove, Dundrum, Dublin 14, alleging that she was negligent when approaching pedestrian crossing lights at the Luas stop at Blackthorn Avenue, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

Barrister Adrianne Fields, who appeared with Collins Crowley Solicitors for Ms Holt, told Mr Dunne in cross-examination that medical reports of his treatment recorded that he stated he was running across the road through traffic.

Mr Dunne said he did not recall saying this but agreed that if he saw a child doing what he had done he would have called out a warning to him.

He said he injured his left knee and right elbow in the collision and it was two years after the incident before a knee fracture was revealed in new X-rays. He said his knee injury caused him the most difficulty.

Hit the brakes

Ms Holt told the court that she saw Mr Dunne out of the corner of her eye and hit the brakes, but he struck the side of her car. She said she saw him hopping around on one leg in the middle of the road immediately afterwards.

Judge McCourt said the incident occurred after 7am on a dirty, wet January morning and he considered Mr Dunne a decent man who had honestly endeavoured to recall what happened in his evidence. He agreed that the pedestrian lights were red against him, but said he felt he could cross the road before he realised it was a two-way traffic system.

“There are a couple of stark facts in the evidence, the lights were red against him and he was not familiar with the area and thought it was a one-way system,” Judge McCourt said. “He ran into the side of Ms Holt’s car and sustained nasty injuries.”

Judge McCourt said he could not see what Ms Holt could have done. The duty of care on motorists was high but it would be raising the bar too high to expect the driver, who was carful and attentive, to have avoided the collision.

Dismissing the case and awarding costs against him, Judge McCourt said Mr Dunne had made a mistake.