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Supreme Court of Vanuatu |
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF VANUATU Civil Case No. 1228 of 2017
(Civil Jurisdiction)
BETWEEN: ABEL TARI
ELIZABETH TARI
Claimants
AND: TELECOM VANUATU LIMITED
First Defendant
AND: FABRICE AISSAV
Second Defendant
Coram: Justice Oliver A. Saksak
Counsel: Eric Molbaleh for the Claimants
Abel Kalmet and Mark Hurley for First and Second Defendants
Date of Hearing: 7th and 8th September, 2017
Date of Judgment: 26th September 2017
__________________________________________________
JUDGMENT
__________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Facts
Mrs Elizabeth Tari suffered from shock resulting in pains in her body and loss of sleep for a week. The claimant’s bus is totally written off as a result of the accident.
Allegations
The Reliefs
Defence
The defendants say however that it was the Claimant Abel Tari who had caused the collision as a result of his negligent driving, and failing to remain on his legal side of the road. The defendants say the claimant’s claims should be dismissed.
Agreed Facts
Disputed Facts
The Agreed Issues
Evidence
9.1. The Claimant’s evidence
The first claimant’s witness was Timothy Phatu, a Medical Laboratory Scientist and First Aid Instructor working at the Vila Central Hospital since 1990 to date, and close relative of the claimants. Elizabeth Tari called him by phone and informed him about the accident. He left his job and drove to the scene at an estimated speed of 60-70 kms per hour. Did not recall the time. He arrived at the scene and saw only two vehicles there, the Bus and the First defendant’s vehicle. There were bystanders there as well. The road is gravelled road, smooth and with no potholes. He took photographs annexed as TP1, TP2, and TP3. In cross this witness said he did not see Christian Jacobe or his truck. He said there were no potholes as he did not avoid any when he drove down. He confirmed the police had arrived after he had arrived at the scene and were present at the scene when he took photographs of the vehicles and the damage sustained by the Bus and Abel Tari as driver of the Bus.
He confirmed the vehicle’s positions in the photograph “ TP1” shows the actual position at the time of impact and collision. He confirmed Christian Jacobe was not at the scene when he arrived.
Objections were raised to parts of paragraphs 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 of his sworn statement dated 28th August 2017. The parts objected to were not admitted including the whole of paragraph 16. The remaining parts were admitted into evidence as Exhibit C1.
9.2. Abel Tari was the second witness for the claimants. Objections were made to his first sworn statement dated 1st June 2016. Paragraphs 5, 22, Annexures “AT5” and “AT9 (1)”. The Court disallowed the relevant parts objected to including Annexures “ AT5”, “ AT9” and “AT 14”. The statement was admitted as Exhibit C2. Objections were made also to his response statement of 4th August 2017 in paragraphs 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The objections to paragraphs 6,8 and 9 were overruled. The objections to paragraphs 11, 12, 13 and 14 were allowed and those relevant parts were not admitted. The statement was therefore admitted as Exhibit C3.
In cross, Mr Tari said the accident occurred between 3:30 to 4:30pm. The road is gravel road. There were tall grasses on the right side only and with trees on his left side. The accident occurred at a bend where he only saw the First defendant’s vehicle at a distance of 5 metres away. He said one cannot see further than that at the corner but beyond that bend, one could see beyond to a distance of 10-15 metres. He denied being on the wrong side of the road. He did not agree there were potholes. He was shown the photographs and asked if he could see any potholes and stones on the road and he said he did not see any. He was shown photograph “ TP1” and asked if he agreed that was the original positon of both vehicles after the collision and he agreed. He agreed the vehicle driven by the second defendant tried to swerve to his side. He denied driving on the wrong side of the road to avoid pot-holes and said there was no one driving behind him at the time. He said Christian Jacobe arrived a little later after the accident when others had come onto the scene. He estimated it was 30 minutes later. He confirmed Timothy Phatu was the first person who arrived on the scene. He confirmed in cross he drove at 20-25kms per hour but not to avoid potholes.
9.3. Elizabeth Tari was the third witness. Her sworn statements of 2nd June 2017 was objected to by defence counsel from paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6. The Court overruled the objections in relation to paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6. Her response statement dated 4th August 2017 was objected to in paragraphs 3, 8 and 9. The Court overruled the objection in relation to paragraph 3 but allowed objections to parts of paragraphs 8 and 9. Those remaining parts of the statements were tendered into evidence for the Claimants as Exhibits C4 and C5.
In cross she confirmed there were tall grasses only on the right side where the second defendant was supposed to travel on. She confirmed from the bend she could see to a distance of only 5 metres and after the corner, she could see up to 10 metres. She confirmed the road is gravel road and that it had no potholes. She confirmed her husband drove slowly because he wanted to show care for his guests and for the bus. She catergorily denied her husband was driving on the wrong side of the road and the proposition that he did so to avoid potholes. She was shown the photographs “ PT1”, “PT2”, and “ PT3” and asked if she saw stones and potholes and told the Court there were no stones or potholes. She did not see a Hilux vehicle following behind their bus. She confirmed seeing Christian Jacobe come to the scene afterwards but that Timothy Phatu arrived on the scene first. She agreed Christian Jacobe gave them water to drink but after Timothy Phatu had arrived earlier than he did.
The Defence Evidence
10.1 The first witness was Christian Jacobe. He confirmed his sworn statement dated 19th July 2017 which was tendered into evidence without objection as Exhibit D1. In cross, he said he was the first to arrive on the scene and helped remove the tourists from the bus. He said he followed the bus closely. He agreed there were tall grasses and potholes and that Abel Tari was avoiding potholes. He had swerved to the right when TVL truck arrived suddenly and the collision occurred. He saw Elizabeth Tari had come out of the bus and he went to assist. He said he uses the road about 4 times every day except on Sundays. He said he sometimes drives fast at 60-70kms per hour. He agreed the road was not too good. He agreed the corner was dangerous and agreed if he was driving at over 100 kms per hour he would cut corner and take much of the other side of the road. He agreed he did not see the collision and that was because of the corner. He said he left the scene again after he had assisted and before the police and the ambulance arrived. He confirmed the position of the vehicles after the collision in photographs “TP1”, “TP2”, and “TP3”. He agreed it was the scene of the accident. He agreed the Toyota vehicle is heavier than the Bus. He said there were potholes, that some were big and some were small. He said he was the first person who arrived at the scene but his focus was mainly on the injured persons and not on who else was at the scene at his arrival.
10.2 The second witness was Fabrice Aissav, second defendant. He confirmed his sworn statement dated 23rd June 2017 without objection and tendered it as Exhibit D2. In cross, he was the driver of the first defendant’s vehicle. He was returning from Rentapau where he had dropped off staff. He was alone. He saw the bus only at distance of 5 metres because of a sharp bend and wildcane. He agreed he drove at 60-70kms per hour but that he slowed down a little at the bend. He maintained he drove only on his right ( legal) side of the road. He agreed with the positions of the vehicles as indicated in photographs “TP1”, “TP2”, and “TP3”. He agreed the weight of the Toyota vehicle he drove is heavier than the Bus’s weight. He agreed that the position of the bus was due to the impact caused by the speed of the vehicle he drove. He agreed his vehicle suffered only minor damage to its right ( passenger) side because it was protected by a bumper. He agreed to hitting the bus on its front left and causing extensive damage to the bus. He explained he had to swerve to his left side and did not apply brakes and that if he did, he would have hit the right side of the bus. He agreed he swerved to escape being injured himself. He agreed to the proposition that if the bus had blocked or used his right of way, the collision would have occurred in the middle or head-on and he too would have been injured. He agreed to photograph “PT1” showing the positon of his rear wheels at the time of the accident. He agreed to the proposition that when he swung his vehicle, only the front wheels respond and not the rear wheels. He was shown photographs “PT1” and asked if there were potholes and he said he did not see any. Then he said there were potholes as he drove a big truck he could not see and feel any effect of them. He did not agree he has a habit of driving fast. He agreed he had had an accident previously and that was due to the fact he drove too fast. He agreed after the accident there were only Abel Tari, Elizabeth Tari, 2 tourists and himself being at the scene. He recalled Elizabeth Tari arguing with him and pleading with him to help them out. He said he was shocked at the time and did not have a clear mind to remember who arrived first at the scene.
The third witness was to have been Inspector Krem Bihu but Mr Molbaleh objected to the admissibility of his sworn statement and its annexures. The Court accepted the objection and disallowed the whole statement of Inspector Bihu filed on 30th June 2017.
Discussions and Considerations
11.1. I discuss and consider first the evidence of Timothy Phatu and Chistian Jacobe. As far as the accident or collision is concerned, neither of those two witnesses saw the collision. Their evidence is perhaps only relevant to the side issues of who arrived at the scene first in time and whether or not there were potholes on the road at the corner or bend the accident occurred. Christian Jacobe’s evidence is also relevant to whether or not Abel Tari had swerved his bus to his right side avoiding potholes, resulting in the accident and thus contributing to its occurring.
11.2. Regarding potholes the photographs “PT1” “ PT2” and “ PT3” do not show potholes. They do show little stones or pebbles which to me indicate the potholes were filled up previously. It is possible there existed some potholes but they were little as Christian Jacobe confirmed in his evidence in cross that “ some were little”. I do not accept there were big and deep potholes on the road and at the bend where the accident occurred. If there were, the photographs would have shown them particularly in “ TP1” where the right side of the road is very clear but no potholes can be seen. From PT2 and PT3 it is clear the holes were filled up leaving the pebbles visible to the eye.
11.3. As to which of these 2 witnesses got to the scene first in time it is more probable that Christian Jacobe got there first, assisted and left the scene. Elizabeth Tari and Abel Tari were clearly in shock as well as Fabrice Aissav. And their recollection of who arrived first may not be comfortably and readily be acceptable. Both Timothy Phatu and Christian Jacobe placed all their focus and attention on the injured persons than on who were around them. But assuming that it was Christian Jacobe who had driven behind the bus, it is logical that it was he who arrived first at the scene of the accident. But the Court is cautious about Mr Jacobe’s evidence. Why did he have to leave the scene early at such a time? He did not specify the reason. And what is more, Mr Aissav did not even see or notice his presence.
11.4. As to whether or not Abel Tari had swerved his bus to the right side avoiding potholes, the Court is again cautious about the truth of Christian Jacob’s evidence. He agreed and confirmed he did not see the collision because of the corner or the bend. If he did not see the accident, then how could it be true that he saw Abel Tari swerve or swing his bus to the right to avoid potholes? I have already found there were no deep or large potholes as such and therefore it could not possibly be true or correct that Abel Tari had swerved his bus to the right in Fabrice Aissav’s way.
11.5. Next, Christian Jacobe said he had followed Abel Tari’s bus but he did not say how closely and at what speed he was driving at the time. If indeed he was driving closely at the speed of 60-70 kms per hour which he said sometimes he did, it is highly possible at the corner he too would have collided with Abel Tari’s bus at the back due to the accident. So it is seen clearly his oral evidence is clearly contradictory to his documentary evidence and as such it is unsafe to rely on such an evidence.
11.6. Putting the evidence of Timothy Phatu and Christian Jacobe aside, what we have remaining is the evidence of the claimants Abel Tari and Elizabeth Tari against the evidence of Fabrice Aissav. Their evidence in summary are as follows-
- As to speed, Abel Tari’s evidence is that he travelled at low speed at 20-25 kms per hour. He estimated Fabrice Aissav’s speed to be at 70-75 kms per hour. Elizabeth Tari confirms Abel Tari’s evidence of slow speed to protect his guests and the bus.
- Fabrice Aissav admitted clearly he would have been doing between 60-70 km per hour but slowed down to between 50-60 kms per hour at the bend or corner where the collision occurred.
- As to whether or not Abel Tari swerved his bus to the right to block Fabrice Aissav’s way, Mr Tari’s evidence is that he kept to his left. Elizabeth Tari confirmed that evidence. Fabrice Aissav’s evidence is that Abel Tari swerved to his right so he had to swerve to his left to avoid a head-on collision.
11.7. The Court prefers the evidence of the claimants as credible. The photograph “ PT1” speaks louder and clear for itself to confirm the claimants’ version as the most credible version. “TP1” shows the first defendant’s vehicle’s rear wheels where and when the collision and impact occurred. It places the First defendant’s vehicle on the left side of the road in Abel Tari’s right of way. “TP1” shows at right ( towards the tall grasses) there is still more than enough space to Fabrice Aissav to manoeuvre his vehicle had he kept to his right of way. The space indicates clearly he did not keep to his legal right of way. And the only reason he did not is that he was travelling at 50-60 kms per hour at a dangerous bend or corner. It indicates he had cut corners. He knew it was a corner. He said tall grasses had blocked his view. Despite all that, he still travelled at 50-60kms per hour. PT1 also shows the front of the First defendant’s vehicle front wheels had gone over the edge of the road way into part of the bushes. That also clearly indicates Fabrice Aissav was travelling well over and onto the legal right of way of Abel Tari’s bus. “ PT2” shows the left rear wheel of Abel Tari’s bus at the time of impact. That position indicates clearly the positon of the bus before the impact. It concludes the bus was travelling on its legal side ( left) of the road.
The Law
13.1. Section 4, subsection 1 of the Road Traffic ( Control) Act CAP.29 states:
“ 4. Vehicle to be driven on right hand side of road
Every driver must at all times keep his vehicle to the right hand side of the road (particularly so when another road user arrives from the opposite direction or is ready to overtake). .........” ( emphasis added)
13.2. Section 15 provides for speed limit as follows:
“ Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, it shall be unlawful to drive any motor-vehicle exceeding 2 tons in weight at a speed exceeding 35 kilometres per hour on any road within the town limits of Port Vila and Luganville or at a speed exceeding 60 kilometres per hour on any other road.” (emphasis added)
13.3. Section 14 of the Road Traffic ( Control) Act provides for careless Driving as follows:
“ A person who drives a motor vehicle on a road without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding VT 50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.” (emphasis added)
13.4. Section 6 of the Penal Code Act CAP.135 provides for criminal intent and recklessness. Subsection (4) states:
“A person shall not be guilty of a criminal offence if he is merely negligent, unless the crime consists of an omission. A person is negligent if he fails to exercise such care, skill or foresight as a reasonable man in his situation should exercise.” (emphasis added)
13.5. The common law position is well established in the dictum of Lord Atkin way back in 1932 in the case of Donoghue.v. Stevenson ( 1932) A.C.562, H.L at p.580 when he said:
“the rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes a law, you must not injure your neighbour, and the lawyer’s question, who is my neighbour? receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who then in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to acts or omissions which are called in question...” (emphasis added).
13.6. Two years later in 1934 Lord Wright in the case of Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co. v. M’ Mullan [ [1933] UKHL 4; 1934] A.C 1, H.L at p.25 said:
“In strict legal analysis, negligence means more than heedless or careless conduct, whether in omission or commission. It properly connotes the complex concept of duty, breach and damage thereby suffered by the person to whom the duty is owing.” (emphasis added).
13.7. As early as 1856 Alderson B in Blyth.v. Birmingham Waterworks [1856] EngR 223; (1856) 11 Ex 781, 784 defined “Negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of hum affairs, would do: or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do.”
Applying the Law to the Facts
Submissions
The Result
DATED at Port Vila this 26th day of September, 2017
BY THE COURT
OLIVER.A.SAKSAK
Judge
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