Accident victim’s heirs win €69,000 damages

The heirs of a 46-year-old woman who died in a traffic accident were yesterday awarded €69,000 damages.

Emanuel Psaila and his children Mark, Marianne, Anthony and Margaret, had filed an action for damages against Charlo Farrugia and Carmel Grixti. The two almost collided while driving in opposite directions on Ta’ Kandja Road, in Luqa, in 2001, a near miss that led to one of them swerving and causing the death of an innocent bystander, Maria Dolores Psaila (Emanuel Psaila’s wife).

The court ruled that both defendants were responsible for Mrs Psaila’s death to different degrees.

Mr Farrugia was driving towards Ta’ Kandja when he was faced with a bowser truck coming from the opposite direction. Mr Grixti was driving behind the truck when he turned off the main road to access a secondary road, crossing Mr Farrugia’s path in the process. Mr Farrugia slammed the brakes and swerved violently to avoid the collision but his car hit Mrs Psaila, who later succumbed to her injuries.

Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo pointed out that Mr Farrugia’s vehicles had left a 15-metre-long brake mark. He had admitted he had not seen Mrs Psaila until the moment he hit her.

It also emerged that when Mr Grixti crossed the road to access the secondary road, he had left enough space for Mr Farrugia to avoid the collision.

Mr Farrugia had not been paying proper attention to his driving and his reaction to Mr Grixti’s manoeuvre had been excessive. However, Mr Grixti had invaded Mr Farrugia’s side of the road.

The judge ruled that Mr Farrugia was responsible for the accident to a degree of one-third and Mr Grixti bore responsibility for the rest. Bearing in mind that Mrs Psaila had been 46 years old when the accident occurred, the court awarded her heirs €69,043.20 damages.

Mr Farrugia was ordered to pay €23,014.40 while Mr Grixti would be forking out €46,028.80.