UNUSUAL CLAIM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22145, 26 June 1935, Page 10

UNUSUAL CLAIM

CAR ACCIDENT SEQUEL "SHOCK" TO WOMAN IN HOUSE SUIT FOR £3OO DAMAGES NEW PROBLEM FOR COURT [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Tuesday Real alarm and serious mental anil and physical hurt was alleged in a case heard in the Magistrate s Court to-day. Mary Alexander, a married woman, sought £3OO damages from John O'Donovan, solicitor, as the result of an accident that O'Donovan had with his car in the street, near her residence, in December last. Plaintiff alleged that defendant drove so recklessly and negligently that the car crashed through a garage adjoining her house and stopped within a few feet of the window of her bedroom. Defendant's action, she asserted, aggravated her heart disease, incapacitated her, and caused her to incur expense for medical and hospital attention, medicine and assistance in her home. Mr. E. D. Moslev, S.M., remarked that he had read the statement of claim and it was a new one to him. Mr. Treadwell, who appeared for plaintiff, said that there was a great deal of authority to show the jurisdiction of the Court to award damages. He said there must have been a series of loud and alarming crashes, because they awakened neighbours as far as a quarter of a mile away. Evidence in support of counsel's statement was given. For the defence it was stated that O'Donovan was driving a new car with unfamiliar controls and that he had put his foot on the accelerator instead of on the brake. The car had not come into contact at all with Mrs. Alexander's house. Counsel spoke of the effect of creating a precedent for awarding damages to people who received a shock as a result of an accident. There was no obligation, he said, on the part of drivers of vehicles on the public highway to provide for the occupants of every house that was passed. The magistrate reserved his decision.