Chennai: Seven years after police booked a motorcyclist over an accident, a motor accidents claims tribunal has held that he was not primarily responsible for the crash. The tribunal awarded him ₹6.6 lakh compensation, finding that the car he hit had been parked dangerously on the roadside — a violation of Section 122 of the Motor Vehicles ActWhile disposing of a compensation petition filed by Balaji Manikandan of Manapakkam, Judge AB Naseer Ali said the FIR and final report filed against the biker did not make him solely responsible for the accident. “The prime negligence is on the car driver,” the judge observed, rejecting the arguments advanced by HDFC Ergo General Insurance Ltd, the insurer of the car.The accident occurred near Tiruneermalai on Feb 2, 2018, when Balaji was riding towards Porur from Tambaram with a pillion rider on Maduravoyal bypass road. Both Balaji and the pillion rider were taken to a hospital. The pillion rider, however, later succumbed to his injuries.Traffic police registered a case against Balaji, accusing him of causing the accident. The bike’s insurer was then directed by the tribunal to pay compensation to the bike owner.Balaji, however, approached the tribunal seeking compensation from the owner of the car and its insurer. HDFC Ergo opposed the claim, arguing that Balaji was not the owner of the two-wheeler he was riding and that the petition was liable to be dismissed for non-joinder of the bike owner and the bike’s insurer.The tribunal rejected the insurer’s contention and concluded that the car driver was the prime tortfeasor. The tribunal, however, held that Balaji also contributed to the accident. Since he failed to notice the blinkers on the parked car and crashed into it, his contributory negligence was fixed at 10%.The tribunal took Balaji’s notional income as ₹13,700 and awarded ₹54,800 towards loss of income for four months. It also awarded ₹1 lakh for pain and suffering. Another ₹5.6 lakh was awarded towards medical expenses.Although the total compensation was calculated at ₹7.40 lakh, the tribunal reduced it by 10% to account for Balaji’s contributory negligence.
