Shared blame in pedestrian, athlete collision
AN ACCIDENT in which a runner collided with a pedestrian during a race has resulted in a legal wrangle.
On the morning of Sunday April 6, 2014, Jasmin Salie and a friend took a stroll along Cape Town’s famous promenade in Sea Point.
At the conclusion of her walk, Salie was knocked to the ground by runner Kristine Kalmer, who was an athlete participating in the annual Spar Ladies race which had been organised by Western Province Athletics. .
Salie sustained a fracture of the hip as a consequence of the collision with Kalmer and was taken off to hospital by ambulance, where she underwent hip replacement surgery.
She later sued the athlete’s club and Kalmer for damages arising out of the collision.
The Western Cape High Court, however, last year dismissed the claim. The matter was back in court on appeal, where a judge this week ruled that both women – to a lesser or larger degree – had been negligent that morning
Salie has died from causes unrelated to the collision, but the executor of her estate represented her during the appeal against the dismissal of the claim.
Runners were diverted from the promenade back to the pavement at one point, as maintenance was being done to the road.
Salie had been out walking with her friend along the promenade, when women asked her to take a picture of them. After she took the picture, Salie went to hand the camera back.
The woman said before she could retrieve her camera, she heard Kalmer (identified by her running number) shout at them to get out of her way. The next moment Salie was knocked to the ground.
Kalmer testified she had been an experienced and accomplished middle distance runner at the time.
She said her style was to focus on the ground immediately ahead of her as she concentrated on keeping her pace. She said she had not seen Salie in time.
Judge Patrick Gamble said she had been in a public space and it was indisputable all runners had to take account of this.
“One is left with the abiding impression she was running as if in a bubble, oblivious to what was happening around her and intent only on achieving her goal of winning the race,” he said.
While he found she was under a duty to keep a proper lookout for potential obstacles, Salie had been more to blame. “Mrs Salie had to be aware that there was a race on the go that day,” the judge said.
He concluded Salie’s negligence contributed 70% to the accident and Kalmer had to contribute 30% towards the damages.