A widow whose husband was killed when an HGV collided with his motorbike in London has successfully claimed for damages from the driver and his haulage firm in the High Court.

Simon Palmer died in June 2019 when he undertook Bluestone Transport driver Russell Timms on Holloway Road in north London.

The HGV driver’s vehicle veered to the left and Palmer’s motorbike struck its side-mounted camera, causing him to fall off and he died as a result of his injuries.

Palmer’s wife Louise brought a claim against Timms, his company and insurer Zurich that identified both a primary case and an alternative case.

The primary case alleged that Timms moved to the left deliberately to block Palmer’s progress; the alternative case was that Timms was negligent in moving to the nearside without checking it was safe to do so.

On behalf of the defendants it was argued that there was a complete absence of evidence to support the primary case and if the lorry driver was negligent then there should be a substantial finding of contributory negligence on the part of Palmer, who had attempted to undertake in an already very narrow gap.

Judge Martin Picton said Timms’ narrative of events had developed over time and he did not have a reliable recall of the accident.

However, he also said he was unpersuaded of the claimant’s primary case: “I have concluded on this issue that a deliberate obstructive act on the part of Mr Timms in circumstances of him being aware Mr Palmer was intending to pass along his nearside is in fact the least likely explanation for his movement to the left.”

The judge added that in his opinion, Timms moved left due to inattention and that as a professional driver he should have been aware of the danger his vehicle posed to others, but this did not mean Palmer was absolved of responsibility.

“The gap was undoubtedly a narrow one,” he said. “The blameworthiness attaching to the Mr Palmer is in practical terms limited to his decision to trust the driver of the lorry to maintain his position on the road and not to veer left.

“The blameworthiness attaching to Mr Timms was to fail to check whether his driving action was a safe one to carry out and/or to steer to his left not knowing if there was anyone on his nearside.

“All drivers, but in particular lorry drivers, have to keep in mind blind spots.”

Concluding, the judge said liability for damages would be reduced by one third in respect of contributory negligence.

Topics