Contributory negligence is a relevant factor in determining compensation for death in a motor accident under Section 110-B of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939.

( 1 ) THE deceased was an Accountant in the W. H. O. He was driving a scooter and met with an accident with a bus owned by M. C. D. resulting in his death. The claimants filed compensation for Rs. 3 lakhs. The Tribunal awarded to them 65,000. 00 Both the parties appealed to the High Court. High Court went into the question of contributory negligence and reduced the amount to Rs. 50,000. 00.

( 2 ) EVEN apart from the oral evidence adduced on behalf of the petitioners, the admitted facts prove the negligence of the driver of the bus. The accident occured at the junction of Road No. 5 and Military Road. A duty is cast upon the driver of the motor vehicle, while approaching an intersection to slow down the speed of the vehicle sufficiently and to take other precautions to see that he does not coillide with any other Vehicle coming out of other road. One of the witnesses for the respondents namely RW-4 has admitted in his evidence that the scooter of the deceased had already taken a turn before the accident occvred. Therefore, the driver of the bus must have seen the deceased before he crossed the inter-section. If he was coming at a slow speed and if he had applied the brakes on seeing the deceased coming in front of his bus, then the bus should have stopped immediately and the accident should have been avoided. The fact that the bus not only did not stop immediately but even after striking against the scooter dragged it to a distance of about 15 feet shows that the vehicle was not coming at a slow speed. This, therefore, is a case where the driver of the bus, by exercise of ordinary prudence and by the observance of the traffic rules, could have avoided the accident. That he did not avoid the accident proves that he was guilty of culpable negligence.

( 3 ) BUT at the same time, I cannot agree with the finding of the learned Tribunal on Issue No. 3 that the deceased was not guilty of any contributory negligence. Just as a duty was cast upon the driver of the bus to observe traffic rules, while approaching a road inter-section to slow down the speed of the vehicle sufficiently to avoid an accident, a duty is cast also upon the deceased to take similar precautions, He was also approaching an inter-section and it was his duty to cross the inter-section only after satisfying himself that he could do so in safety for himself as well as for other persons using the road. When the deceased approached the inter-section. he must have seen the bus coming from the Military Road and if according to PWS 7, 9 and 10 the bus was coming at a high speed the deceased ought to have allowed the bus to pass the inter-section before he himself crossed it. After the accident, the deceased was found to be in possession of two cinema tickets for the show starting at 6. 30 P. M. The accident occured at about 6. 30 P M. and, therefore, it is obvious that the deceased was in a hurry to reach the cinema theater, before the show started. The fact, that there were two tickets with him further shows that the other ticket was meant for some one else who would probably be waiting for the deceased at the cinema theatre. It is, therefore, obvious that the deceased crossed the irter-section without taking sufficient precautions and was to a certain extent also responsible for the accident.

( 4 ) THE next question for consideration is what is the amount of compensation to which the legal heirs of the deceased would be entitled. The deceased was drawing a Salary of Rs. 780. 00 per month. Out of this amount the personal expenses of the deceased have been estimated by the learned Tribunal at Rs 300. 00 per month and the amount which would be available to his dependents for their maintainance at Rs. 480. 00 per month or roughly Rs. 500. 00 per month. The deceased was aged about 39 years at the time of his death and the life expectancy of the deceased has been fixed by the learned Tribunal at 55 years. Therefore, the life expectancy was cut short by 16 years.