MOH v. PFIZER PRODUCT LTD. AND ANOTHER

JUDGMENT OF ARCHER J.

The plaintiff’s claims damages from the defendants jointly and severally for injuries sustained by him as a result of the negligent driving of the second defendant, a servant of the first defendant.

The plaintiff's story is that on 23 December 1964 at about 7 p.m. [p.140] he and two others were walking on the road from Asuoso to Akroso in a line in which the plaintiff was ahead of the rest. They were walking on the grass verge off the road when they saw a vehicle approaching behind them from Asuoso. They gave way to this vehicle. There was another vehicle approaching them from the opposite direction, that is from Akroso and they also gave way to enable this vehicle to pass. But all of a sudden, this other vehicle drove carelessly on the grass verge and knocked down the plaintiff. The plaintiff testified that his left leg was on the grass verge while his right leg was in a gutter near the edge of the road. His evidence is that the near-side, that is the left side of this vehicle knocked him down because the vehicle drove off the tarred portion of the road. The plaintiff became unconscious but later regained consciousness at the Akim Oda hospital. The vehicle which knocked him down was identified as No. SG 6995 owned by the first defendant and driven by the second defendant, an employee of the first defendant. The plaintiff’s only eyewitness was his second witness, Kobina Mantey, who confirmed what the plaintiff said.

The second defendant's version is that on that evening he was driving on the Akroso road from Accra. He saw an on-coming vehicle with its lights on. On driving nearer this vehicle, he found that this vehicle had stopped and there were passengers who were trying to board this stationary vehicle on its off-side. These passengers realised that they were on the wrong side of the road, and upon seeing the second defendant's vehicle approaching, these passengers began to run and scatter helter-skelter in the road. The second defendant tried to apply his brakes but all of a sudden he heard a bang and on stopping found that the plaintiff had run into the off-side of his car and was lying on the right-hand side of his right front tyre near the mudguard. The right front mudguard and the right light were damaged. The width of the defendant's car is about five feet. As the second defendant thought the plaintiff was dead, he asked somebody with the plaintiff to stand by while he reported to the police. He therefore drove his vehic