Circle K wins appeal over pregnant woman awarded damages after forecourt fall
High Court Reporter
Petrol station chain Circle K has won an appeal relating to a pregnant woman who had been awarded damages after tripping and falling on the forecourt of one of their Dublin stations in 2016.
Last January, the High Court found in favour of Kristina Kandourova, who claimed that she tripped over a concrete kerb on the forecourt of the Circle K station on Strand Road, Sandymount, in Dublin, in August 2016, and awarded her damages.
Circle K Energy Group Ltd denied liability and then appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal.
Ms Kandourova (44), who lives near the station, claimed she was driving to work and stopped for coffee at the station at around 7am. The plaintiff said she was five months pregnant at the time.
Ms Kandourova submitted that there were three marked parking bays in which she parked that were bookended by raised pavement, known as ‘nib pavement’.
In her evidence to the High Court, Ms Kandourova accepted that the fuel station was within walking distance of her home and that she “must have” been there on previous occasions.
She also agreed that she “must have” seen the nib pavement as she parked her car. She said that she did not take a route along the footpath in front of the store because it was blocked with store goods.
The plaintiff’s engineer described the nib pavement as an "unnecessary and introduced hazard". His evidence was that the kerb should have been “dished” down or its presence indicated by signs or bollards or yellow paint.
The defendant’s engineer described the kerb as a feature that is “widely found, is common and ubiquitous”.
The defendant’s case was that the nib pavement was a “usual” danger in respect of which the plaintiff was required to take reasonable care for her own safety.
The High Court judge found that due to the path to the store being blocked with goods that the plaintiff had no option but to go round the back of her car and across the nib pavement, which amounted to an “act of negligence” and a “breach of a duty of care” on the part of Circle K that forced the plaintiff onto the forecourt.
In his judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan said there had been no evidence before the High Court that the nib pavement was an “unusual danger” sufficient to attract liability.
Mr Justice Noonan said the nib pavement was “a commonplace feature to be found not only in garage forecourts but in street and car parks generally”.
Mr Justice Noonan said he was satisfied that there was “no true causal link” between the footpath being obstructed and the accident.
“Anybody crossing the street encounters precisely the same danger or hazard. It seems to me that it cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as 'unusual' as a matter of law,” said Mr Justice Noonan.
“One thing is clear and that is that the plaintiff cannot have been taking reasonable care for her own safety in failing to see the kerb over which she fell,” said Mr Justice Noonan who then allowed the appeal by Circle K.
