No Extended Meaning For Road Traffic Act Liability To Injured Claimants: Carroll v QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd And Others

In a robust judgment delivered in the High Court this morning, Mrs Justice Tipples refused to extend the established meaning of the phrase "caused by, or arising out of, the use of the vehicle" in section 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA). Ruling on preliminary issues as to whether the 4th defendant QBE, as RTA insurers, could have any liability to the claimant on the facts, the judge dismissed arguments that the limits of statutory cover could extend to injuries sustained some time after a claimant, who had been drinking until the early hours, was abandoned by a taxi driver who failed to take him safely home.

The facts

The claimant, Neil Carroll, suffered catastrophic head injuries in the early hours of Sunday 19 August 2012 as he was making his way home after a night out with friends in the centre of Liverpool. He had been drinking and shortly before 3am hailed a black cab to take him to his home in Huyton. The taxi driver (the 1st defendant) did not take him home. Rather, he stole the claimant's debit card and PIN and, having done so, left the claimant in the Old Swan area of Liverpool, to find his own way home. The claimant was some three miles short of his destination.

It was in these circumstances that the claimant, without any money on him, continued home on foot and, at the same time, his girlfriend set out to find him in her car. She did not find him and it was while pausing on his walk home that the claimant fell off the barrier of a motorway bridge into the car park below and was severely injured. The claimant was discovered at around 8am and taken to hospital. He is now 31 years old, remains severely brain injured and requires 24-hour care.

The 1st defendant, Michael Taylor, was the taxi driver. He pleaded guilty to theft from Mr Carroll (and others in a similar manner) and received a custodial sentence in May 2013. The 2nd defendant, Michael Doyle, was the owner of the taxi, which was hired from him by the taxi driver. QBE provided insurance cover to the 2nd defendant for "social, domestic and pleasure purposes, for the insured's business and for the purpose of hire and reward", which also extended to the 1st defendant.

The preliminary issues

A trial on four preliminary issues was ordered in June 2019 by Master Thornett, despite opposition from the claimant. At trial these were simplified to two issues by agreement:

Did the claimant's injuries arise out of the use of the taxi on a road or public place within the meaning of...