‘Sudden braking on the highway will be considered negligent in the condition of accident’: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said in an important judgment that if a car driver suddenly brakes on the highway without any warning, he can be considered negligent in the condition of a road accident. A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Arvind Kumar said on Tuesday that a sudden stop by a driver in the middle of the highway, even if it is due to personal emergency, cannot be justified as it could be a threat to others on the road.

Justice Dhulia, who wrote a decision for the bench, said that the high speed of vehicles on the highway is expected and if a driver wants to stop his vehicle, it is his responsibility to warns or indicate other vehicles running on the road.

Supreme Court verdict on engineering student’s petition

The decision came on the petition of engineering student S. Mohammad Hakim, whose left leg had to be cut on January 7, 2017 after a road accident in Coimbatore. The incident occurred when Hakim’s motorcycle collided with the back of a car that suddenly stopped. As a result, Hakim fell on the road and a bus coming from behind hit him.

Car driver gave this argument in court

The car driver claimed that he suddenly put a break because his pregnant wife was feeling like vomiting. However, the court rejected the explanation, saying, “The explanation given by the car driver to stop the car suddenly in the middle of the highway is not appropriate from any point of view. The court held the appellant liable for negligence only to a limit of only 20 percent, while the car driver and bus driver were held responsible for negligence to the limit of 50 percent and 30 percent respectively.

The victim will get so much compensation

The court estimated the total amount of compensation of Rs 1.14 crore, but due to the participant negligence of the appellant, it reduced it by 20 percent, which is to be paid by the insurance companies of both vehicles within four weeks. In this case, the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal declared the car driver convicted and determined the negligence of the appellant and the bus driver in the ratio of 20:80. This blamed the appellant for 20 percent negligence for not maintaining enough distance from the car. However, the Madras High Court held the car driver and bus driver liable to the limit of 40 and 30 percent respectively and the appellant to 30 percent for negligence.

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