June Bonnie v Motor Vehicles Insurance (PNG) Trust (MVIT)

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Woods J
• Judgment Date: 14 February 1994
• Citation: [1994] PNGLR 393
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1994
• Judgement Number: N1194

National Court: Woods J

Judgment Delivered: 14 February 1994

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

JUNE BONNIE

V

MOTOR VEHICLES INSURANCE (PNG) TRUST

Mount Hagen

Woods J

16 December 1993

14 February 1994

NEGLIGENCE — Motor vehicle accident — Personal injuries — Liability — Burst tyre or mechanical defect — Standard of care and maintenance expected in a PMV.

DAMAGES — Village woman — Back and hip injuries

Facts

The plaintiff, passenger on a PMV, brought claim under the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act (ch 295) for personal injuries suffered from an accident involving the PMV. The issue was liability for the injuries and quantum of damages.

Held

On the balance of probabilities, the driver (defendant) should be liable for plaintiff's injuries. Damages awarded on the basis of plaintiff's role as a village woman which entails a role as a subsistence gardener.

Cases Cited

Papua New Guinea cases cited

Kopun v The State [1980] PNGLR 557.

Pupti v Kudjip & The State [1986] PNGLR 283.

Other case cited

Barkway v South Wales Transport Co Ltd [1950] 1 All ER 392.

Counsel

D L O'Connor, for the plaintiff.

P Smith, for the defendant.

14 February 1994

WOODS J: The plaintiff is claiming damages for personal injuries suffered by her when she was injured in a motor vehicle accident on 2 June 1990, on the Okuk Highway just near Kundiawa. The plaintiff was a passenger on a PMV registration No P6604 which ran off the road and she was thrown about the interior of the PMV and injured her pelvis and hips.

The evidence from the plaintiff is that she got onto the PMV to go to Kundiawa and that the PMV was speeding down the final hill into Kundiawa when a tyre burst and the driver turned into the drain. She was thrown around and injured her hips and body when thrown around. She says she was unconscious and was apparently taken to hospital where she was admitted and treated. She says that the PMV was fully loaded with passengers.

A witness Raphael Numdi gave evidence of riding on the same PMV as the plaintiff. He says that the PMV was going too fast...