1st Solicitors represented an infant Claimant in a claim for damages for personal injury following a collision between 2 pleasure craft operating approximately 150 yards off shore.

The accident occurred in 2003 and the issue of liability was dealt with as a preliminary issue at a hearing held at Telford County Court in October 2006.

The Claimant was 11 years of age at the time of the accident.

On the day in question the client was travelling in a bayliner Capri speedboat. This boat was travelling back towards the shore line and was in line with the slipway. The boat was almost stationary. There was another boat also travelling in the vicinity and this was an inflatable boat with an outboard motor. The two boats collided and the inflatable rose up out of the water travelling over the bayliner Capri before landing back in the water.

The circumstances of the accident were disputed.

At trial, after hearing the evidence of both parties and independent witnesses, who were looking out to sea from the shore line, the Judge found that the bayliner Capri had been travelling at a high speed but had then slowed, as it made its way back towards the channel heading for the slipway. The inflatable boat had been travelling parallel with the coast at a high speed. The inflatable approached the bayliner Capri from the stern but collided with the rear of the bayliner which sat low in the water. As a result this operated almost as a ramp and the inflatable travelled over the top of the bayliner Capri from the stern before dropping back in to the water on the port side front quarter.

The Judge found that liability for the accident rested with the driver of the inflatable boat.

The point of interest in the case was the way in which the Judge dealt with the issue of negligence. The Defendant in his defence had referred to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972. The Judge made it clear that he would deal with the issue of liability following standard principles of negligence. He would refer to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 for assistance in the same way as one might take in to account the Highway Code when dealing with collisions between 2 motor vehicles. The Judge commented that the Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 were often known as the Highway Code of the sea.

The Claimant, who was a passenger in the rear of the bayliner Capri, in this case suffered severe internal injuries and an amputation of his right arm, as a result of coming in to contact with the propeller of the outboard motor of the inflatable as it passed over him.

The issue of valuing the damages payable for the injuries suffered is to be dealt with at a future hearing.