A individual has been awarded just under €40,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court in relation to a road traffic accident that happened as he had been driving to his place of work along the M50 on December 21 2015
The Court was informed that Kieran Brennan of Monastery Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, had come to a halt at the Northwood exit when he was struck from behind by a car driven by Dylan Duffy.
He informed his barrister, Fiona Pekaar that he had, initially, experienced shoulder and neck pain but this had soon improved. Brennan said he had been left with constant lower back pain that had stopped him from taking part in the same standard of active lifestyle he had previously, including being unable to train for and enter a similar amount of marathon running and soccer matches as he had before the accident took place.
Medical testimony was presented in court to indicate that Brennan had a pre-accident degenerative condition. However Judge Groarke said that that condition had not been an problem prior to the accident and he believed it had been caused by the M50 incident.
In delivering his ruling, the Judge stated that Mr Brennan had been suffering with a bulging disk in his back and although most medical reports had suggested this had not been due to the accident, he could not ignore the report. He said that it had clearly been one of the outcomes of the accident.
Legal counsel for the defendant pointed to the fact that Mr Brennan had taken part in the ‘Hell and Back’ obstacle course in Bray, Co Wicklow in October 2016 which was a difficult assault course involving various activities and obstacles to be tackled.
However, Judge Groarke said Mr Brennan still trains for and enters a number of marathons and plays soccer once a week and the court did not believe his level of physical activity was at the same level as it had been before the accident happened.
Judge Groarke said he was sympathetic to Mr Brennan and awarded him road traffic accident compensation of €35,000 and special damages of €4,424.82 against Mr Dylan Duffy, however a stay was granted on his award on condition Mr Brennan was paid out €20,000.
