A teenager who suffered a head injury after she was knocked down as she crossed a road near her home has settled her High Court action for €1.5m.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the young girl, who was 14 years old at the time, had allegedly walked out on to the road without looking. She had emerged, it was claimed, from the front of a bus which was stopped.
The judge was told that Lorna Dawson who spent 18 days in intensive care and had to have a craniotomy, has been left with a weakness in the left side of her body.
Lorna Dawson, Carnaross, Kells, Co Meath, had, through her father Gerard Dawson, sued the owners of the vehicle involved, Principal Construction Ltd, with offices at Arran Street East, Smithfield, Dublin, and the driver, Cormac Hughes, Canterbrook, Trim Road, Navan, Co Meath, as a result of the accident on July 16, 2015.
It was claimed the driver allegedly failed to keep an adequate or proper lookout.
The defendants denied all the claims and contended the teenager had allegedly attempted to cross the road from in front of a bus when her view was entirely obstructed to her right and allegedly attempted to cross the road without first ascertaining that it was safe to do so.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said it was a case that had many difficulties and even if Ms Dawson had been successful in the action, there would have to be a finding of contributory negligence on her part.
The judge said Ms Dawson’s friends did not really witness the accident, adding that it was a good settlement.
Source: The Irish Examiner
