The plaintiff is the administrator of the estate of Yeap Kian Sin and claims against the defendant for damages for the benefit of dependants of the deceased who died as a result of a motor-accident on July 8, 1978 in which the motor-cycle No. AX 5207 ridden by the deceased was involved in a collision with a motor-car No. AAB 5757 driven by the defendant.

On July 8, 1978 at about 12.30 a.m. the deceased, Yeap Kian Sin, was riding his motor-cycle No. AX 5207 along Tambun Road, Ipoh from the direction of Ipoh town towards Tambun. He was on his way home in Ipoh Garden.

There is no eye-witness to the accident except the defendant. The defendant however was not able to give a clear picture of how the accident happened. He cannot remember how the accident happened. The Court therefore has to rely very much on the sketch plan.

From the sketch plan, it is clear to me that the motor-car was travelling at a great speed. The brake marks are 58['] 2' and 96['] 7' made by the left and right tyres respectively of the car AAB 5757. The position of the brake marks shows that the car had travelled diagonally across the road from right to left as one faces Ipoh from the direction of Tambun. In other words, the car came from the wrong side of the road if it was travelling from the direction of Tambun towards Ipoh. It means that the car must have gone on to the wrong side of the road. The probable conclusion is that the collision must have occurred when the car was on its wrong side of the road, when it encroached into the path. of the deceased's motor-cycle. The conclusion is supported by the presence of broken pieces of glass "H1" and the wiper of the car AAB 5757 "H" on the right-hand side of the road as one faces Ipoh as shown in the sketch plan. The impact of the collision must have been great as to cause the deceased's body "J" to be thrown to the opposite side of the road. The motor-cycle "P" must also have been thrown to its opposite side of the road by the force of the collision.

In my judgment the collision occurred on the right-hand side of the road as one faces Ipoh from the direction of Tambun. That is to say it occurred on the defendant's wrong side of the road. The defendant must have gone on the wrong side of the road and encroached into the deceased's path and collided into the deceased's motor-cycle. I am also of the view that the defendant was travelling at a very great speed. I found therefore the defendant negligent and solely to blame.

In passing I would also refer to the physical condition of the defendant driving the car. There is evidence that at the time when collision took place the defendant was driving under the influence of drink. His blood specimen was taken and sent to the chemist for analysis who found that the alcohol content found in the blood was very high. The defendant was under the influence of alcohol and was not in a safe condition to drive the motor-car.

Now with regard to the damages I found as a fact that the deceased was working as a clerk and during his free time and weekends he gave tuition to students. On the average I would say he earned about $350 p.m. At the time of his death he was 21 years old. If he works until the age of 55 he would have 34 years of working life. The loss of earning therefore at $350 p.m. with a 34 years purchase would be $66,055 on the annuity figure. I would round them up to $66,000.

For special damages, I would give $2,000 for the expenses for funeral, $400 for obtaining the Letters of Administration and $45 for obtaining other documents making a total of $2,445.

For the above reasons I would give judgment for the plaintiff accordingly with costs.

The defendant appealed from the above decision to the Supreme Court.

SUPREME COURT

Ngan Siong Hing for the appellant.

David Tay for the respondent.

Cur. Adv. Vult.

Lee Hun Hoe CJ (Borneo}

(delivering the Judgment of the Court): This appeal concerns a fatal accident claim by the dependants, that is, the parents of the decea