Daijiworld Media Network - Belagavi (SP)
Belagavi, Oct 10: A court here has created history in the entire country by delivering a verdict relating to a road accident case by recreating the accident scene. Judge of the fifth additional district and sessions court which has been designated as Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, departed from traditions and delivered this unique judgement.
In normal course, courts base their judgements in accident cases based on documents. As soon as prima facie negligence is established, the courts normally ask the vehicle owners or insurance companies to pay compensations. But in the current case, the court depended on the accident recreation report prepared by Mumbai-based Automotive Research Centre Assure, duly doing scientific analysis of the accident.
Judge of the court, Yashwant Taware, and advocate from Hubballi, S K Kayakamath, who argued on behalf of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, have studied physics. Both of them chose to scientifically analyse the accident as a result of which this path-breaking judgement was delivered. Kayakamath had sought court permission to produce scientific analysis report of the accident and the judge agreed.
The kinetic energy principle, rules of motion and Newton's Law of Motion and the Law of Inertia were applied when recreating the accident scene. On the basis of calculations relating to estimated speed at which the car and lorry which were moving from opposite directions when the accident happened, it was estimated that the car was speeding at 95 km per hour while the lorry was moving a 38 km per hour. The accident in question had happened on February 15, 2013 on Hubballi-Dharwad bypass road where head-on collision had happened. Three persons in the car had died and another was injured. The police had registered the case, prepared inquest report, and filed charge sheet against the drivers of both the car and the truck.
The report based on the recreation of the accident scene concluded that the car was moving recklessly at high speed and therefore the lorry driver had no role in the accident and hence not liable to pay the compensation. Based on the report, the court concluded that the negligence of the car driver had caused the accident and absolved lorry driver of any role in the accident. The car insurance company was asked to pay the compensation.
The applications filed by the heirs of the car driver seeking compensation were quashed and the application seeking money for damages caused to the car was also dismissed.