: The family of a 39-year-old man, who died in a road accident involving a negligently driven truck, has been awarded Rs. 22.12 lakh compensation by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
MACT Presiding Officer RPS Teji directed TATA AIG General Insurance Company Ltd., insurer of the offending truck to pay a compensation of Rs. 22,12,500 to the family of Anant Singh, who suffered fatal injuries in the April 2, 2013, mishap.
The tribunal, which decided the petition in favour of the victim’s family, however, accepted the insurance company’s claim of contributory negligence in the accident.
“The driver is liable for causing the accident and causing fatal injuries to the deceased to the extent of 75 per cent, and the deceased himself had contributed to this accident to the extent of 25 per cent,” the tribunal said.
Relying on documents submitted on record, it said the victim too was driving at a high speed which is why he could not control his vehicle and rammed into the truck.
“It is pertinent to mention here that the vehicle of the deceased hit the offending vehicle from behind. I have seen the photographs placed on record, which reveal that the vehicle of deceased was badly damaged. This shows that the deceased was also driving at a very high speed without maintaining the required distance at the time of accident and had failed to control his vehicle...” the tribunal said.
“He (victim) was also under bounden duty to observe caution and maintain a distance between his vehicle and the vehicle ahead. Had the deceased been cautious, he could have averted the gravity of the accident,” it said.
The tribunal, while holding the accused driver guilty, said a driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle is required to observe necessary caution to avoid harming other vehicles and people.
“Having failed to observe necessary care and caution, being oblivious of said duty, respondent No.1 (driver) was berserk... since he applied a sudden brakes without taking care and caused the fatal injuries to the deceased in the present case,” it said, while adding that the driver of the offending vehicle “cannot escape culpable negligence on his part as he was primarily responsible for the accident.”
According to the petition filed by the family of the victim, Anant Singh was driving on the Gurgaon-Sohna road on April 2, 2013, when a truck ahead of him applied sudden brakes.
As a result, he rammed the truck from behind and died on the spot. His family had then filed the petition seeking Rs. 5 crore as compensation. — PTI
The incident dates back to 2013 when the victim rammed a truck ahead of him on Gurgaon-Sohna road
