Every accident doesn't have to be somebody's fault

Fifteen years ago, the funeral of my niece went past me in a nightmarish blur. Cara was killed instantly in a horrific road accident.

Strangely as it may seem, the clearest recollection I have now is of one sentence spoken by the priest, a two-generation family friend: “This was an accident and is nobody’s fault.”

The unfortunate truck driver was present, as was also the young woman in whose care Cara was at that moment. The parents had already demonstrated the necessary generosity of spirit to embrace the no-blame modus operandi and those involved in the tragedy remain close to Camillus and Maura to this day. That is all there was about the accident.

Now in 21st century Ireland, it seems to be the case that nothing can go wrong with anybody, anything, anywhere, without somebody having to carry the blame.

There is no such thing as something simply being an accident. An accident is an unexpected, unintentional, unforeseen incident – often with no apparent cause. If we accept this definition, well surely sometimes that combination is nobody’s fault? But accidents do happen; pure and simple accidents.

Sometimes a dozen unrelated combinations of events can bizarrely conspire to cause one disastrous accident. Applying the attitudes of today, that accident has to be dissected, analysed, investigated and pursued with vigour until the blame can be firmly laid on some shoulder – especially when they can pay up.

This column is not on about absolving the criminally reckless who cause death or injury. The law of the land and the civil courts are there to protect and guard the weak as well as the strong: but when the greatest fear stalking every professional and business person is the risk of being sued, there is an awful lot wrong with how we operate as a society.

Children are being denied the natural pleasures of organised robust and sporting outdoor activities because schools and club organisations are afraid of the inevitable solicitor’s letter if a child accidentally breaks a bone. Hurling and rugby have been eliminated from certain schools for this reason.

Public liability insurance is up to three times more expensive in Ireland than in Spain – and many other countries, I am sure. Ireland went litigation mad, where everything, from a slip on a footpath, to an in-grown toe nail had to be turned into the threat of a day in court.

Insurance companies contributed to this compensation culture by being too free to pay out amounts they regarded as ‘nuisance value’. In one infamous case, three members of the same family fell into the same manhole, at different times on the same night. In Spain a man doesn’t get paid for ‘not looking where he’s going’.

You cannot fence off every river, lake, railway line, building site and dangerous location in the country and accidents can happen without it being anyone else’s liability. Cash-strapped businesses cannot afford the huge insurance policies now demanded to protect themselves against personal injury claims.

Take a coffee shop: the customer buys a cup of coffee and pays for it at the counter. That person then sits down at a table and with nobody near her, spills the coffee into her lap. How the hell can the cafe owner be liable? In one such case I remember reading about; the owner was liable for not warning the customer that the coffee could scald her! Again, the insurance pays; the premiums go up and the public foot the bill.

In Ireland the loser of the case will generally pay all costs of both parties and in most cases this is an insurance company. This is why we have now surpassed the notoriously litigious United States for compensation claims.

On the other side of the Atlantic, lawyers can only receive payment from their own client, which reduces claims with limited chance of success.

It is time for our judges to tell spurious claimants that it is up to everyone to mind themselves, watch where and how they go and that often an accident is nobody’s fault – maybe not even their own.

Don’t Forget
A man in Athlone was told that most accidents happen within 20 miles of home – so he moved to Dublin for safety reasons.