Claim for damages of $300,000

Press, 15 November 1977, Page 4

Claim for damages of $300,000

i One man was killed and ; another left almost a quad- ; raplegic when a man who I had been drinking lost control of the station waggon he was driving on a bend |near the Auckland Airport, skidded across to the wrong side of the road and collided with a car coming in the opposite direction, Mr Justice I Somers and a jury were told in the Supreme Court j yesterday. William Lynn Stokes, aged 37, is claiming general damages of $300,000 for injuries Ihe suffered in the accident |in a trial which is expected to take a week. Mr Stokes is a former powerboat champion.

Walker Products, Ltd, ladder manufacturers, the ■owner of the vehicle in which Mr Stoke:- was a passenger, has been cited as the first defendant. Barry Edward Foxlee, an employee of that company who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, as the second defendant; and Lorraine Dorothy Carter, the driver of the other car involved, as the third defend-, ant.

Messrs B. McClelland and jC. A. McVeigh appear for. Mr Stokes, Messrs C. B. Atkinson and K. Jones for IWalker Products, Ltd, which denies liability and Messrs R. P. Thompson and A. K. | Grant for Mrs Carter, who I has also denied liability. | Mr Foxlee. who has left New Zealand, is not reprei sented by counsel and has I taken no steps in the matter. I The accident happened on Ithe evening of July 19, 1973. lon George Bolt Drive, a short distance from the : Auckland Airport. I The statement of claim I states' that Mr Stokes, •suffered severe head injuries | in the collision which in- ! eluded cerebral oedema with I respiratory complications. • His legs are paralysed and I he has no movement in his left arm. He is left-hahded. He has limited movement in the right arm. I Mr Stokes’s memory and I power of speech have been permanently affected and he I has to take epilepsy pills. I He cannot sit up and has to I be pushed in a wheelchair or I lie in bed. I Because of his injuries he [was unable to work and reIquired constant nursing and | at times paid professional 'nursing. , , | After the accident on July 119, 1973, he was in' the .Auckland Hospital until December 8, 1973, and was I then transferred to the I Christchurch Hospital from which he was discharged on Mav 22, 1974. Outpatient

treatment continued until July, 1974.

The statement of claim alleges that Mr Stokes’s injuries were caused by the negligence of Walker Products, Ltd, and Mr -Foxlee in driving the station waggon under the influence of liquor ito such an extent he was I unable to exercise proper I control, driving at an excessive speed in the circumIstances, failing to keep as far as practical to the left, (keep a proper look-out to | stop, steer clear or other’ • wise avoid the accident.

” It is also alleged that Mr H Stokes’s injuries were h caused or contributed to by ’•Mrs Carter by driving at ah excessive speed in the cir•cumstances, failing to keep a | i proper lookout, steer clear ‘ lor otherwise avoid the accident. Opening his case, Mr ' McClelland said that Mr : Stokes was virtually a quadraplegic after the accident. IHe has two children aged 12 land nine. Because of the seriousness |of Mr Stokes’s injuries the (claim was a large one — I $300,000 but the figure was • amply justified. At the time of the acciIdent Mr Stokes was a New I Zealand powerboat champion and was going to Whangarei to attend a powerboat conference, He flew to Auckland where he was picked up at the airport by Mr Foxlee with whom he was to spend the night before going on to Whangarei.

Mr Stokes owned a speedboat called Voodoo. When he was sponsored by Walker Products, Ltd, the name was changed to Miss Aero for advertising purposes. When Mr Foxlee arrived, ■at the airport he had With! him a Mr Geddes who also! owned a powerboat. He was; in the front passenger’sl I seat. They had only travelled! a short distance when Mr; |Foxlee lost control of the! •station waggon on a bend,; skidded on to the wrong! iside of the road and collided! | with a car coming from the I opposite direction driven by| •Mrs Carter,

| The plaintiff said that the] • accident was caused because •Mr Foxlee had been drinking land was travelling too fasti and was contributed to by|, Mrs Carter , because she ! failed to reduce speed at the corner which was signposted at 30 miles an hour but she was travelling at 45 miles' an hour and failed to take avoiding action.

Mr Geddes was killed arid Mr Stokes was virtually a quadraplegic which was

[caused because of brain damage and not because of a broken spine. He would be like that for the rest of his life. Mr Foxlee was prosecuted by the police but unfortunately because of the severity of the impact nd precise point of impact was established. The victims had to be cut out of the vehicles. Before the accident Mr Foxfee admitted in a statement to the police, that he had beeii drinking at the Onehunga Workingmen’s Club for two hours. Mr McClelland said that the plaintiff alleged that both drivers failed to exercise reasonable care in the circumstances. Mr Atkinson, for Walker Products, denied liability, and said that even if Mr Foxlee had been negligent, which was denied, then Mr Stokes voluntarily accepted the risk. When Mr Stokes got into the car he knew or ought to have known Mr Foxlee was drunk, Mr Stokes remembered nothing about the accident nor anything for a couple of years afterwards. Mrs Carter denied all negligence and in a statement made to the police said that the vehicle driven by Mr Foxlee skidded across to her side of the road. She admitted travelling at 45 miles an hour yet it was a 30 miles an hour area, Mr McClelland said.