THE HIGH Court has ruled that a teenage driver and the Al Maktoum Foundation were equally negligent in relation to a car incident which led to the deaths of two young girls.
Eman Ayadi and Aya Chennit (both 12) died when the car in which they were travelling crashed near the village of Kilreekil, Co Galway, on March 28th, 2008.
They were among a group of 32 girls and seven adults from the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh, run by the Al Maktoum Foundation, and were on a youth club outing to Killary Harbour in Connemara.
Most of the group had travelled in two minibuses owned by Al Maktoum, while the youth club co-ordinator, Rabia Patel, hired a seven-seater Opel Zafira from Centre Point Rent A Car Ltd to carry the remaining seven.
The group had travelled in convoy from Dublin, and after a stop in Athlone, Rabia Patel asked her daughter Fatima to drive the Zafira. Fatima Patel, then aged 19 and with a full driver’s licence, was driving the car when it crashed into a pole outside the village of Kilreekil, resulting in the deaths of the two girls.
Eman Ayadi’s sister Walla, who was injured in the crash, had sued the Al Maktoum Foundation, Centre Point Rent A Car Ltd, Rabia and Fatima Patel, both with an address at Birchfield Park, Goatstown, Co Dublin, and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland, arising from Eman’s death.
Aya Chennit’s mother Naima, St Kevin’s Road, Dublin, sued the Patels, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland and Al Maktoum Foundation Ltd, trading as the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, arising from Aya’s death.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill ruled Fatima Patel had been negligent in her driving, and this had led to the crash. He said her lack of driving experience, in particular of driving a vehicle of the size and engine capacity of the Zafira, was “undoubtedly a contributory factor”.
He also concluded Fatima Patel was probably driving too fast in order to catch up with the minibuses as she and her mother did not know the way to Connemara.
The judge found the Al Maktoum Foundation, while not vicariously liable for Fatima Patel’s negligent driving, was equally negligent by reason of its failure to make adequate provisions for the planned outing.
The judge ruled the foundation should not have left Rabia Patel solely responsible for such a large group, in addition to allotting her the responsibility of driving on a long and difficult journey. The two minibus drivers were professional drivers who had no other responsibilities, he noted.
The Zafira should have been driven by a suitably qualified driver who had no other responsibilities or distractions, he added.
The judge found no evidence of negligence on the part of Rabia Patel. She had no prior specialist experience and could not have been expected to know her daughter should not have driven the car, he ruled.
He also ruled Centre Point Rent A Car Ltd could not be held responsible, as it had consented only to Rabia Patel driving the car. A clause in its contract of agreement expressly stated a person under 21 could not drive the car, he noted.
The matter was returned to later this month when the judge will make further orders.