Woman's heirs awarded Lm1,368 damages

The heirs of a woman injured in a traffic accident were yesterday awarded Lm1,368 damages by Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri in the Civil Court.

The writ was originally filed by Shirley and Manuel Caruana against the unknown heirs of Salvatore Bezzina and his insurers Arva Insurance Agency Limited.

Shirley Caruana died in the course of the litigation and her heirs continued the case.

Caruana claimed she had sustained a permanent injury on February 19, 1994 when she was a wheelchair bound passenger in an ambulance.

She claimed that a car driven by Bezzina had emerged suddenly in front of the ambulance, causing it to brake abruptly.

She was thrown from her wheelchair and sustained permanent injuries to her leg, computed at a 17 per cent permanent disability.

The court noted that Bezzina died before the court case was filed and the Caruanas had filed it against his unknown heirs and the insurance company.

Mr Justice Cuschieri ruled that the accident had occurred because of the manner in which Bezzina had emerged onto a main road from a secondary road.

Although neither Bezzina nor the ambulance driver had been driving at high speed, Bezzina had not given way to the traffic already on the main road and had not reduced his speed.

As a result, Bezzina was responsible for the injuries sustained by Caruana.

The court concluded that Caruana had sustained a 17 per cent permanent disability but took into consideration the fact that even prior to the accident, Caruana was in a poor state of health.

It was proven that Caruana was bedridden as a result of rheumatoid arthritis and that she was a very heavy woman.

However, her physical condition had worsened after the accident for the small measure of mobility she had had prior to the accident due to occasional use of a wheelchair had gone and she was rendered totally bedridden and completely dependent.

In assessing the damages sustained, the court pointed out that Caruana had not lost any potential income for she had not worked prior to the accident.

Caruana was rendered dependent upon her children to look after her and the damages were to be computed with regard to the amount she would have had to spend to hire assistance had she not had the children.