McIntosh v Aviva Insurance

On 11 June 2013, Mr McIntosh was riding his Yamaha 850cc motorcycle south on an unclassified road near the Mill O’Burns Farm, Aberdeenshire.

Mr Thomson was driving his lorry in the opposite direction and was positioned over the mid point of the road whilst navigating a bend.

The speed limit for the stretch of road was 60mph. Both the motorcyclist and driver were travelling at 30mph.

The motorcyclist encountered the lorry as he entered the bend and was unable to pass safely. He took evasive action and jumped from his motorcycle, sustaining serious injury.

McIntosh raised a claim against the lorry driver. During the civil trial, the speed and positioning of the lorry were discussed.

The Judge found the lorry to have blocked the motorcyclist’s lane as there was only a gap of 0.8m for him to safely pass. The motorcycle was 0.79m wide. Further, due to the size of the lorry, a safe speed to negotiate the narrow, winding road would have been 20mph.

Motorcyclist 0% to blame.                         Driver 100% to blame.

The motorcyclist was correctly positioned and deemed to be travelling at the correct speed.

Therefore, no contributory negligence could be attributed. The driver was found to be solely responsible for the incident.