SC: Sudden Brake on Highway Is Negligence

New Delhi: In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court has held that a driver who suddenly applies brakes on a highway without warning other vehicles can be held negligent if an accident or endangerment results.

A two-judge bench of Justices Suddhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar on Tuesday observed: “On a highway, high speed of vehicles is expected, and if a driver intends to stop, he has a responsibility to give a warning or signal to following traffic.” The bench, in a judgment authored by Justice Dhulia, added that an abrupt halt, even for a personal emergency, cannot be justified if it endangers others.

The ruling arose from a claim by engineering student S. Mohammed Hakim, whose left leg was amputated after his motorcycle collided with a car that had halted suddenly on a Coimbatore highway on January 7, 2017. After the initial collision, Hakim was thrown into the road and run over by a following bus. The car driver had defended his conduct by citing his pregnant wife’s vomiting, but the court rejected this explanation as “not reasonable from any angle.”

The Supreme Court apportioned liability as follows: the car driver 50 per cent, the bus driver 30 per cent, and Hakim 20 per cent for contributory negligence (for riding without a valid licence and following too closely). The court increased the total compensation to Rs 1.14 crore but reduced it by 20 per cent, leaving the net award to be paid by the insurers of both vehicles within four weeks.

Earlier, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal had exonerated the car driver, apportioning 20 per cent negligence to Hakim and 80 per cent to the bus driver. The Madras High Court then held the car and bus drivers 40 per cent and 30 per cent liable, respectively, and Hakim 30 per cent. The Supreme Court’s decision revises those findings in light of the car driver’s failure to signal before stopping.