MADURAI: A decision of three youngsters to go for a spin on a motorcycle in 2013, with two of them riding pillion, didn’t just result in one of them dying, but also a reduced compensation amount, due to their “contributory negligence”.
While the victim’s family was to get a compensation of Rs 12.17 lakh, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently reduced it by 20 per cent, to Rs 9.7 lakh, observing that the deceased was “triple-riding” on the two-wheeler which caused the accident. This was decided after an insurance company filed an appeal in 2018 challenging an order of the Devakottai Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, where the victim’s family had filed a petition.
Pronouncing the judgment, Justice R Tharani said the deceased, Kannan (21), was on a two-wheeler with one Rajkumar (pillion rider) and one Manickam (rider) on May 29, 2013, when Manickam reportedly lost control of the vehicle. All three sustained injuries, and Kannan succumbed.
Triple riders let off the hook too easily: Advocate
Kannan ’s family was awarded a compensation of Rs 14.16 lakh by the Tribunal in 2017, and it was reduced to Rs 12.17 lakh, with Kannan’s income being fixed at Rs 7,500 instead of Rs 9,000 due to lack of proof. The judge further reduced the compensation amount to Rs 9.7 lakh as the trio were violating the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and contributed to the accident by riding the motorcycle together. Advocate I Robert Chandra Kumar said such orders should serve as an eye-opener.
“Triple riding is an offence under Section 184 (Driving Dangerously) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. While it is a punishable offence, the police often let the offenders off. Triple riding must not be taken lightly.”
Explaining the term ‘contributory negligence’, he said, “It means the role played by the affected party in an accident. Here, the deceased is said to have contributed to the accident by triple riding. When two or more vehicles are involved, the court would decide who contributed to the accident and in what way.”