Chennai: The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Chennai, has directed an insurance firm and a water tank lorry owner to pay Rs 18 lakh in damages to family members of a 45-year old mason who was crushed to death by the lorry five years ago.
In a petition, Rathnamma submitted that her husband Pappaiya, 45, worked as a mason and stayed at a construction site in Sholinganallur. He earned Rs 700 a day. Around 1am on October 13, 2014, he was asleep on a raised platform at Sholinganallur Housing Board Colony, behind IT firm Infosys.
A water tank lorry being reversed in a rash and negligent manner after distributing water in the area ran over her husband, crushing him to death on the spot.
Rathnamma said her husband was their sole breadwinner. Because of his death, the family members faced serious hardships.
She said the vehicle owner, S. Suresh, and lorry insurer M/s Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd, were liable to pay compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family members.
In reply, the insurance firm said the FIR was registered against an unknown vehicle and the petitioners must prove involvement of Suresh’s lorry. It also said that the accident took place because of Pappaiya’s negligence.
The chief judge of small causes court in Chennai, Justice R. Selvakumar said if the lorry driver had been careful enough while reversing it, especially at night, the accident could have been avoided.
The insurance firm contended that the dead man was also to blame by sleeping on the road.
But the court said Pappaiya simply slept on the roadside and could not be held responsible for the fatal accident. It was the duty of the driver to ensure safety of others while driving the lorry. The court thus blamed negligence by the lorry driver for the accident.
The lorry owner and the insurance firm were jointly asked to pay a compensation of Rs18 lakh to the family members along with an interest of 7.5 per cent within three months.
