Posted: December 11th, 2013
A young woman, who sustained serious injuries when she was a passenger in a fatal car accident, is to receive €100,000 compensation after a court hearing to determine liability.
Leah McVeigh from Drumkeerin in County Leitrim was only 16 years of age when, on 23rd December 2008, she was one of five teenagers who went for a “spin” in two cars outside the village. Leah rode as a passenger in a car driven by 17-year-old John Williams – who had received the car as a birthday present just two weeks earlier – while the second car was driven by 18-year-old Darragh Flynn.
According to witness reports, the two drivers raced each other for three miles on the outskirts of the village until John Williams – attempting a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre – lost control of his car, went over a grass verge and crashed into the side of a parked lorry. Williams was killed in the accident, and Leah sustained a head injury and a fracture of the left clavicle, and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Through her mother – Ethel McVeigh – Leah made a compensation claim for a passenger in a fatal car accident against Darragh Flynn and the insurance company who had provided insurance for the fatally-injured John Williams – Quinn Direct. Damages were agreed at €100,000, but neither Flynn nor the insurance company would accept liability for Leah´s injury claim and proceedings were issued for the case to be heard in court.
At the High Court in Dublin, Mr Justice Moriarty heard evidence from Darragh Flynn and the other passengers who were present on the day on the accident. The judge stated that he considered the evidence given by Flynn and a male passenger in the fatal car accident to be “self-serving”, and believed the testimony given by Fern Skelton to be more loyal to the truth.
Mr Justice Moriarty found Flynn 22.5 percent liable, and ordered him to pay Leah €22,500 compensation for a passenger in a fatal car accident; while the balance of Leah´s passenger accident compensation settlement will be paid by Quinn Direct.
Categories: Passengers in Car Accidents
