A mother and daughter from the south-east of the country have been awarded combined damages of over €72,000 after they sustained injuries when a car in which they were travelling rear-ended another car on a crowded town-centre street.

The mother and daughter, aged 59 and 79 respectively, suffered soft tissue injuries in the collision in June 2014. They were taking charges against the driver of the car in which they were passengers and his insurers.

Counsel for the two women told the High Court that his clients had been shopping in the town and had accepted the offer of a lift home from the driver of the car, whose parents lived on the same road as the claimants.

In her evidence, the daughter told the court that she believed the collision had occurred when the driver’s mobile phone rang and he momentarily took his eyes off the road to answer it.

The case had previously come before the Circuit Court, but the High Court judge expressed concerns over the way it had been heard, saying that the confusion in the case had arisen “because the accident was simply not investigated properly.”

She also expressed her concern at the apparent decision taken before the case was heard in the Circuit Court to portray the accident as a ‘ready-up’, and noted that the driver of the second vehicle, which was declared a write-off after the collision, had not been called to give his ‘crucial’ evidence in the Circuit Court.

She accepted the evidence given by both the mother and daughter as credible and noted that they had taken the lift from their neighbour’s son in good faith. Both women said in their evidence that they had worked all their lives, had never been involved in any criminal activity and had never before taken a traffic claim.

The judge found in their favour and awarded them damages of €35,000 each, plus special damages of €2,460, totalling €72,460.

If you have been injured in an accident for which you were not at fault, be sure to contact a member of our legal team for professional advice.

*In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.*