Syed Agil Barakbah J:

This is a claim for general and special damages by the plaintiff who was a crab catcher by profession prior to an accident which occurred on 12 September 1968, at about 12.10 a.m. According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, the plaintiff was cycling along Bakar Arang Road towards Sungei Patani town. The defendant was driving a motorcar No. K9192 and proceeding towards the opposite direction. There was a collision between the said motorcar and the plaintiff's bicycle. The plaintiff alleges that as a result of the accident he suffered injuries and as a result his right leg is shortened by one inch and he walks with a limp. The plaintiff further alleges the accident occurred due to the negligent driving of the defendant. The defendant, on the other hand, denies negligence and maintains that the accident was solely caused by or contributed to by the negligence of the plaintiff himself.

Mr. Triptipal Singh appeared for the plaintiff and Mr. Lim Ewe Hock for the defendant.

The facts are simple but the evidence conflicting since both sides gave different versions.

According to the plaintiff, he was cycling about 3 feet away on his side of the road towards Sungei Patani town to get baits for catching crabs. When he arrived in front of the Esso petrol station he saw the headlights of a motor vehicle coming from the opposite direction about 190 feet away, in a zigzag manner. He did not sense any danger and carried on cycling along the road. When the vehicle was about 40 feet or so away from him, it zigzagged a second time, encroached into his path and knocked into him. He became unconscious and recovered later in the hospital. His only witness, Omar bin Mat Isa, testified that before the accident he was walking home from Sungei Patani town on the left side of the road. He saw the plaintiff cycling on the other side of the road towards Sungei Patani. After he had passed him he heard the sound of vehicles colliding. He turned round and saw a motorcar diagonally across the middle of the road. He also saw the plaintiff had fallen in front of the car near its offside. The plaintiff was lying on his (plaintiff's) side of the road about 3 feet away from the left edge. The bicycle had fallen in front of the plaintiff about 20 feet away. He further said the car was still moving on the road and proceeded towards a drain on the left side as one faces Bakar Arana. It came to a stop when one of its wheels went into the drain. The defendant then came out from the driver's seat. He noticed two other persons in the car. Then he and one Indian man who reached the scene later helped to carry the plaintiff to the side of the road.

The defendant testified that he was driving his Opel Kapitan saloon alone that morning at over 20mph along the main road. From a distance he saw the light of a bicycle coming towards him on the left side of the road about 100 yards. He continued driving. When his car was about 20 feet away from the bicycle, the cyclist suddenly rode across the road towards the defendant's right. The defendant swerved to the left to avoid the cyclist but the cyclist was so close to him that the front offside lamp of the car knocked the bicycle and the cyclist's right leg. One of the wheels of his car landed in a hole on the left side of the road. He got down from the car, approached the cyclist who was lying on the road bleeding from the head and lifted him to a sitting position. An Indian came and on his request moved the cyclist to the side of the road. The defendant went to telephone the police at a Shell filling station opposite. He denied ever seeing Omar at all that morning. The defendant when tested in cross-examination revealed a vital contradiction to his own testimony. In his police report made about forty minutes or so after the accident, he said on reaching in front of the Esso station he saw a male cyclist coming from the right side of the road from Bakar Arang going towards Sungei Patani. When the