Court orders compensation of €69,043 for woman's death in traffic accident

A court has ordered the payment of €69,043.20 in compensation to the husband and children of a 46-year-old housewife who was killed in a traffic accident 10 years ago.

The case was instituted by Emanuel, Mark, Marianne, Anthony and Margaret Psaila as heirs of Mary Dolores Psaila who was killed in a traffic accident on January 5, 2001 in Luqa.

The heirs claimed that Mrs Psaila, a pedestrian, was hit by a car driven by Charlo Farrugia which went out of control control because of a manoeuvre being carried out by another car driven by Carmel Grixti.

Farrugia and Grixti blamed each other for the incident.

The court said it was of the view that both drivers were to blame. Grixti was to blame because he had driven onto another lane without having considered whether his action would force oncoming traffic to change direction.

Farrugia, on the other hand, was also to blame because his reaction was disproportionate and a result of lack of proper attention. While Grixti had driven onto his lane, Farrugia had had ample space to take avoiding action.

However, the court said, since it was Grixti's manoeuvre which set off the emergency he was mostly to blame, while Farrugia's blame was of one third.

In considering the damages, the court considered that while Mrs Psaila's medical condition could have contributed to her death, it was not the cause of death.

The court said that since Mrs Psaila was a housewife, her earnings were being considered as equivalent to a minimum wage. A housewife did not stop working on reaching retirement age . However, in view of her medical condition, it was likely that she would not have been able to work beyond another 20 years.

The court therefore ordered Mr Grixti to pay €46,028.80 and Mr Farrugia to pay €23,014.40.