Nettleship v Weston
Nettleship v Weston [1971] 2 QB 691 is a decision of the English Court of Appeal on tort law in the area of negligence (violation of a duty of care).
facts
A man had agreed to teach his girlfriend to drive. During the third driving lesson, the friend lost control of the vehicle and hit a street lamp. The man was injured in the process. He sued the girlfriend for damages.
The decisive questions were whether liability according to the principle of Volenti non fit iniuria could be ruled out, whether the same standard of care should be applied to an inexperienced driver without a driver's license as to an experienced road user and to what extent the man was partly to blame for the damage.
decision
The Court of Appeal decided by a majority that the action should be upheld on the merits. Lord Denning justified this with the fact that with regard to the personal relationship between the parties, the same standard for the duty of care applies as for all other road users and the defendant owes this to the plaintiff as well. Since she is insured, the risk of damage should fall on her. Salmon LJ took a different opinion , who wanted to justify a liability relief in her favor in view of the friend's lack of driving experience known to the man.
However, the plaintiff had to be credited for contributory negligence , which led to a liability rate of only 50%.
As a result of this decision, a general exclusion of liability in the case of traffic accidents was denied in the further case law, but a blanket reduction in the amount of claims for traffic accident victims was made by 20%.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Case Summary of Nettleship v Weston (1971) 2 QB 691 law teacher.net, accessed on September 17, 2018 (English)