‘Ireland’s unluckiest road user’ a witness in low-speed crash case
TWO claimants who had named a man described in court as “Ireland’s unluckiest road user” as a witness to a minor collision have been awarded €5,000 each for whiplash-type injuries.
Scott Hardy and Damien Hennessy were in a car which was rear-ended by a vehicle travelling at an estimated speed of 10kmh in July 2016.
It was alleged by the defendant, Bridhge Bible, that Mr Hennessy was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident as she only saw two people, Mr Hardy and his girlfriend, who did not bring a personal injury claim.
Ms Bible told Waterford Civil Circuit Court how she did not initially notify her insurer, Aviva, about the accident as “it was only a minor tip”.
She was driving to an anniversary Mass at the time and there was heavy traffic on the road due to an earlier collision.
Ms Bible said her front number plate was damaged and she hit the tow bar of the car Mr Hardy was driving, but she could not see any visible damage to his vehicle.
The court heard how the car Mr Hardy was driving was allegedly involved in two other crashes in August 2016 and November 2016 and was not available for inspection as it was impounded in December.
He claimed the collision with Ms Bible caused damage underneath the bumper.
He claimed he paid more than €4,000 to repair damage to the back bumper of the vehicle but did not have receipts for this as his friend, who is a mechanic, carried out the works.
Mr Hardy said “my back and neck were killing me” after the accident, he suffered from a sharp pain in his jaw when he yawned, could no longer go to the gym seven days a week and had difficulty using a sweeping brush and a vacuum cleaner.
Mr Hennessy said he found it painful to pick up his child after the accident and suffered some ligament damage to his neck.
Both said their injuries subsided after a number of months.
Counsel for the defence questioned Mr Hardy about a witness to the accident named as Scott Ryan on a report submitted to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).
This man was previously described in newspaper reports as “Ireland’s unluckiest road user” and someone who had made a multitude of claims, the court heard.
When asked if he knew this man, Mr Hardy said he had spoken to a number of witnesses that day and “the name rang a bell”.
The court later heard how solicitors for the plaintiff also previously represented Mr Ryan and his name was put in a MIBI report in error as the surnames of Mr Ryan and Mr Hardy were mixed up.
Tony Kelly, a forensic engineer, said the damage to the number plate was consistent with Ms Bible’s evidence that her vehicle hit the tow bar of the other car.
Judge James McCourt said it was obvious from the evidence that there was a collision which occurred at a very low speed.
He also said he was satisfied the two plaintiffs sustained minor injuries and awarded them each €5,000, together with their legal costs.