A motor accident victim cannot be attributed with contributory negligence for not having worn a helmet while riding a two-wheeler and his/her family cannot be denied full compensation if the death had occurred because of multiple other injuries and not solely because of the head injuries, the Madras High Court has held.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh issued this ruling while disposing of an appeal preferred by an insurance company against the compensation granted in 2021 by a motor accident claims tribunal in Erode to the family members of a 21-year-old engineering college student who had died after his motorcycle had collided into a bus in 2010.
While perusing the tribunal’s order, the judge found that it had attributed contributory negligence on the part of the youngster for having failed to wear a helmet at the time of the accident and consequently deducted a substantial amount of money from the total compensation to which his family was entitled.
