FULL DAMAGES AWARDED

Southland Times, Issue 23374, 4 December 1937, Page 5

FULL DAMAGES AWARDED

CLAIM FOR DEATH OF GIRL

MAGISTRATE’S RESERVED JUDGMENT

Judgment for the full amount claimed, with costs £2l 6/-, was given yesterday by Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., in his reserved decision on the question of damages in the case in which John Robert Nicholson, father of Joan Lorraine Nicholson, who was killed in an accident on Elies road on February 24, 1936, when her cycle was struck by a car driven by lan Congreve Ballantyne Glass, claimed from Alexander Glass the sum of £2OO. The case was heard in the Magistrate’s Court on November 30, when the Magistrate reserved the question of the amount of general damages to be awarded. After reviewing the evidence the Magistrate found that the girl was riding her cycle on the road on her correct side in a perfectly normal manner.

“I also find that the son. was a negligent and incompetent driver and endeavoured to cut in between two groups of cyclists without first seeing that the way was clear,” continued the Magistrate.

“Damages amounting to £2OO are claimed. I reserved the matter of damages to give it careful thought but the more I consider it the more I am convinced that £2OO is a very modest sum for the loss of the services of a healthy normal daughter. It must be remembered that we are living in an advanced age and the value of human life is being more fully appreciated. This is reflected in jury verdicts,. in campaigns in road safety, in drowning fatalities and the like. I also note that courts are becoming more generous in the granting of reasonable damages. I see no reason why I should reduce the amount claimed.”