The answer to the above question is yes, you may still make a claim for compensation for the injuries you sustained however, there may be a deduction in the amount you are awarded.
There are several things that will be taken into consideration when a judge is determining what compensation you should receive for injuries sustained following an accident whereby you were a passenger in a vehicle which was being driven by a person under the influence of alcohol..
There are certain factors which will be looked at when considering whether a deduction should be made;
- Did you know or should have known that the driver had consumed such a quantity of alcohol which would be likely to impair the drivers capacity to drive safely?
- Did you observe how much the driver was drinking throughout the night/day before your journey home?
- How long had you spent with the driver prior to the journey resulting in an accident?
A leading case which has set out most of the principles of law in this area is Owens V Brimmel. In this case the passenger in the vehicle had spent the evening with the driver in various pubs, the passenger was aware of how much the driver had consumed and although was intoxicated himself, it was argued that he should have known before they started drinking that the driver would not be in a fit state to drive home at the end of the night.
Nevertheless the passenger still accepted the lift home at the end of the night and the vehicle was inevitably involved in an accident. The passenger sustained serious injuries.
It was found that the passenger had contributed to his injuries by accepted the journey knowing the above and as such, his compensation was reduced by 20% (this is known as contributory negligence).
However, in a different case were the driver and passenger where brothers who had been out drinking together, the passenger’s compensation was reduced by 30%
What happens if I did not know how much the drvier had consumed/ was unaware he was intoxicated?
Your damages may not be reduced if you can show that you did not know how much the driver had consumed and the driver did not give an indication that his ability to drive was impaired by the amount he had consumed. A good example of this was set out in a case called Traynor V Donovan where the passenger had only met the driver 30 minutes before the car journey and the judge held that within that half an hour she would not have been able to observe the drivers drinking. The passenger was awarded her full compensation and no percentage was taken.
Conclusion
- You may still claim for personal injury sustained whiles travelling as a passenger in a vehicle driven by a drink driver
- Your compensation will be reduced (around 20/30% depending on the exact circumstances) if you knew/ should have known that the driver had drank so much as to impair their driving ability
- There is a defence that you did not have the time to observe the drivers drinking to be able to judge that he was ‘over the limit’ or unfit to drive
- This defence cannot be used if you travelled to the ‘night/day out’ with the same driver knowing that it was there intention to drink.
