In law, anyone who causes harm to another is obliged to pay compensation. But there are scenarios where quantifying this damage is a legal labyrinth. It is common for blame to be shared in many road collisions, which complicates the task. On the afternoon of March 12, 2016, a 60-year-old woman died after falling from her motorcycle, as a result of a collision with a car that overtook her without maintaining a safe distance. The circumstance that complicates the legal debate is that the victim was not wearing a helmet; the cause of death was a head injury.
Who should pay and how much? The Supreme Court, in a recent ruling issued at the end of April, has clarified how to act in this scenario of shared fault, which is a frequent source of cumbersome legal disputes. Its solution is that responsibility is shared equally, as both parties were negligent. And the amount of compensation must be recalculated taking this factor into account.
In the recent ruling – which you can consult here – the solution of the High Court, in line with the courts that reviewed the case before, is that there is concurrent fault, specifically, 50%.
In the appeal, the widowed spouse, the three children, the siblings, and the parents of the victim claimed 409,000 euros in damages. After assessing the circumstances of the accident, and especially that the motorcycle rider was not wearing a helmet, the lower courts concluded that the compensation should be set at 204,834 euros.
Proportional decision
The Supreme Court believes this is a fair amount. To reach this conclusion, it lays out several arguments. In favor of the vehicle driver, the judges note the obvious: if the sixty-year-old motorcyclist had worn a helmet, she would not have died. The medical reports submitted to the case demonstrate that the head trauma was the direct cause of death.
But, on the other side of the scale, that is, in favor of the victim, the Chamber recalls that the Law on Civil Liability and Insurance in Motor Vehicle Traffic imposes on the driver who maneuvers the reinforced duty to check that the road is clear. The expert reports submitted to the lawsuit show that the driver of the vehicle, a Ford Fiesta, caused the fall by not leaving sufficient lateral separation to safely overtake.
It is also an undisputed fact that the car slightly touched the motorcycle. Although the contact was minimal, it was enough to cause the motorcyclist to fall, which ended in the fatal outcome.
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The relatives of the deceased motorcyclist argued that, in similar accidents, courts in Granada, Murcia, and Málaga had ruled that the victim’s concurrent fault for not wearing a helmet, when she dies, should be 25% and not 50%.
But the Supreme Court resolves the debate and establishes that 50% co-responsibility is a fair decision. Article 1 of the Law on civil liability and insurance in vehicle traffic is clear in this regard: if the victim contributes to the production of the damage all compensation will be reduced in consideration of the concurrent fault. This implies that the injured driver makes proper use of seat belts, helmets, or other protective elements.
In this case in question, another factor that the Civil Chamber takes into account is the type of road. It is a local road, which favored the accident. The road also lacked horizontal and vertical signage and had a “Y” shaped configuration, which could have confused the car driver about which was the main road, according to the judges. And, in any case, the car that caused the accident was not going excessively fast.
In light of all the factors, the Supreme Court concludes that the fault should be shared equally. Consequently, the Chamber dismisses the appeal of the victim’s relatives against the car driver and Mapfre, her insurer, and reduces their claim by half.
In conclusion, the driver and her insurance will have to pay 204,000 euros to the relatives.
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