Bethany Probert, a 13 year old girl, was severely injured walking along the carriageway on a 60mph unlit road at 5:00pm in December 2009. A hedgerow required her to walk in the road.
The defendant driver, Mr Moore said that Bethany was also partly to blame in that it was dark and she was walking on the left hand side of the road and had not been wearing a high visibility jacket. However, the Court held that Bethany could not be negligent. The Judge found that:
‘An ordinary 13 year old should not be expected to consider taking the same level of precautions as an adult. It would be asking too much of her to say that she should not have started to walk home at all, waited for her mother or accepted lift, or should not have started to walk home without borrowing a high visibility jacket, reflective markings or torch from the stables”.
Mr Moore’s insurers, Churchill, have been given leave to appeal the decision.
