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CASE ONE – LAW OF TORT
On a clear, dark night in Kuala Kubu Baru, Awang, a 32 year old man was driving his vehicle along a state road at slightly above the speed limit. Everything was fine and he was humming along to his favourite song playing on Sinar FM when suddenly he came upon a disabled lorry stopped in his lane. Awang applied his brakes hard and luckily managed to avoid colliding with the lorry. However a split second later, his vehicle was struck hard from behind by another car driven by Dolmat, who apparently was driving close behind Awang’s car. Awang’s vehicle was equipped with an operational seatbelt but Awang was not wearing it at the time of the collision. The impact of the collision caused serious injury to Awang and knocked him unconscious. Dolmat suffered only minor injuries as he was wearing a seat belt and the collision had activated his car airbag but the accident caused him to be temporarily disoriented.
A few moments later, another car arrived at the scene of the accident. The driver was Horatio, who was able to avoid colliding with any of the other vehicles. Upon getting out from his car, Horatio observed that Awang was unconscious and Awang’s gas tank was leaking. Horatio quickly pulled Awang from the wreckage of his car and put him on the pavement several metres away from the accident site before returning back to help Dolmat.
An ambulance was called and Awang was taken to the hospital. Awang was admitted to the hospital and 3 days later Dr. Surgeon performed surgery to relieve pressure on Awang’s brain. Awang is now suffering from loss of equilibrium and partial paralysis, both of which appear to be permanent. Dr. Surgeon also has given an opinion that Awang’s injuries were aggravated when Horatio pulled him roughly from the car.
An investigation revealed that the dump truck was owned and operated by Towkey, who was walking to the nearest public phone to get help when the accident occurred (apparently his cell phone ran out of battery). Malaysia road safety regulations require the operator of disabled or stalled vehicles to place certain markers on the roadway to warn approaching drivers of the danger. Towkey apparently did not have such markers with him at the time, nor did he take any precaution to warn approaching drivers of the road obstacle facing them.
Awang has approach you, a lawyer, to bring an action to recover damages for his injuries against Towkey, Dolmat and Horatio. Additionally Towkey is also threatening to counter sue Awang and Dolmat. Towkey claimed that because of the accident, he now suffers from panic attacks whenever he hear loud noises and also mental distress due to concern of his teenage son’s safety whom he had left sleeping in the passenger seat of the lorry. However it turns out that his son escaped unhurt from the collision.
Discuss potential causes of action available to Awang and Towkey, and the defenses that will likely be asserted.
On a clear, dark night in Kuala Kubu Baru, Awang, a 32 year old man was driving his vehicle along a state road at slightly above the speed limit. Everything was fine and he was humming along to his favourite song playing on Sinar FM when suddenly he came upon a disabled lorry stopped in his lane. Awang applied his brakes hard and luckily managed to avoid colliding with the lorry. However a split second later, his vehicle was struck hard from behind by another car driven by Dolmat, who apparently was driving close behind Awang’s car. Awang’s vehicle was equipped with an operational seatbelt but Awang was not wearing it at the time of the collision. The impact of the collision caused serious injury to Awang and knocked him unconscious. Dolmat suffered only minor injuries as he was wearing a seat belt and the collision had activated his car airbag but the accident caused him to be temporarily disoriented.
A few moments later, another car arrived at the scene of the accident. The driver was Horatio, who was able to avoid colliding with any of the other vehicles. Upon getting out from his car, Horatio observed that Awang was unconscious and Awang’s gas tank was leaking. Horatio quickly pulled Awang from the wreckage of his car and put him on the pavement several metres away from the accident site before returning back to help Dolmat.
An ambulance was called and Awang was taken to the hospital. Awang was admitted to the hospital and 3 days later Dr. Surgeon performed surgery to relieve pressure on Awang’s brain. Awang is now suffering from loss of equilibrium and partial paralysis, both of which appear to be permanent. Dr. Surgeon also has given an opinion that Awang’s injuries were aggravated when Horatio pulled him roughly from the car.
An investigation revealed that the dump truck was owned and operated by Towkey, who was walking to the nearest public phone to get help when the accident occurred (apparently his cell phone ran out of battery). Malaysia road safety regulations require the operator of disabled or stalled vehicles to place certain markers on the roadway to warn approaching drivers of the danger. Towkey apparently did not have such markers with him at the time, nor did he take any precaution to warn approaching drivers of the road obstacle facing them.
Awang has approach you, a lawyer, to bring an action to recover damages for his injuries against Towkey, Dolmat and Horatio. Additionally Towkey is also threatening to counter sue Awang and Dolmat. Towkey claimed that because of the accident, he now suffers from panic attacks whenever he hear loud noises and also mental distress due to concern of his teenage son’s safety whom he had left sleeping in the passenger seat of the lorry. However it turns out that his son escaped unhurt from the collision.
Discuss potential causes of action available to Awang and Towkey, and the defenses that will likely be asserted.