In the case of O’Connor v Laffin the High Court in Dublin dismissed an action by a plaintiff who claimed he had been injured when struck by a wing mirror of a passing van.
In listing his reasons for doubting the reliability of the plaintiff’s evidence, the O’Neill J stated that “having regard to the fact that the plaintiff is described as over 6ft in height, it would seem to me to that it would have been impossible for the plaintiff to have been hit at the back of his neck, shoulder or head area if he was walking across the roadway, as he described it. Had he been stooped, he could not have been hit by the wing mirror at all as other parts of his body would have been impacted with the side of the vehicle. The plaintiff was probably walking reasonably upright in which case it would have been simply impossible for this wing mirror to have struck him where he says it did.”
The full judgement can be read here:
Damian McGeady, Lacey Solicitors