Truck driver ordered to pay Lm6,000 damages

A man injured in a traffic collision was awarded over Lm6,000 damages by Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Roderick Falzon and his wife Maria Vella Falzon filed their writ against Mark Camilleri.

They claimed that Falzon had suffered a permanent disability after his car was involved in an accident with a truck driven by Camilleri at Mgarr in August 1997.

They asked the court to find Camilleri responsible for the accident and to make good the damages sustained.

The court noted that Camilleri had admitted responsibility for the accident for he had driven his truck out of a quarry onto a road blocking Falzon's path.

The court also noted that although Camilleri's insurers had compensated the Falzons for the damages to their vehicle, the question regarding the injuries sustained remained open.

Mr Justice Cuschieri noted that from the medical experts' testimony it resulted that Falzon had sustained a four per cent permanent disability which included nasal pain and damage to his right eye.

After establishing that Falzon was 30 years old at the time of the accident, the court declared that the multiplier factor was that of 31 years.

The court then took Falzon's income at the time of the accident into consideration and condemned Camilleri to pay plaintiffs Lm6,853 damages.