A Bermuda magistrate who sued his senior citizen friend after he crashed his BMW car in which he was a passenger has been awarded US$35,000 in damages by a judge.
Both men had earlier been drinking, a court heard.
Assistant Justice Jeffrey Elkinson ruled on Wednesday that Allan Robinson “failed to exercise the expected standard of care” that resulted in a crash involving Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo’s car.
Tokunbo appeared before Justice Elkinson last week in civil court to request costs and damages from Robinson.
Robinson, who appeared as a lay litigant, said Tokunbo should share the costs equally as he was aware he had been drinking when he allowed him to drive his car.
But Justice Elkinson said: “He [Robinson] had the opportunity when he felt dizzy, knowing that he had previously suffered blackouts, to pull over.
“Instead, he fastened his seatbelt, which gives an indication that he was at least concerned for his own safety but had a total disregard for other road users.”
The crash happened on the evening of January 19, 2019, near the public entrance to Elbow Beach in Paget parish, after the pair, both aged 64 at the time, had been drinking alcohol. The car went over an embankment.
Robinson told the court he started to feel dizzy while behind the wheel but ignored it because this happened frequently owing to his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
He added that he blacked out and later woke up in hospital, where he learned he had crashed the car. He refused to give a sample of blood to the police surgeon and was charged later for the refusal, for which he was fined $1,000 and banned from driving for 18 months.
Tokunbo had the car written off as he said it was more prudent than having it repaired and he bought a similar model for $40,000.
He was able to get $5,000 from the salvage value hence he was asking for $35,000 from Robinson.
CMC/
