AKOSUAH GRUNSHIE vs. YEBOAH AND ANOTHER [1967]DLCA1445

Date	1967-05-01
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1967]DLCA1445

OLLENNU JA

APALOO JA

LASSEY J.A.

K. K. DEI-ANNANG FOR THE APPELLANT.

NO APPEARANCE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENTS.

[1967]DLCA1445
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >AKOSUAH GRUNSHIE<o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>YEBOAH AND ANOTHER <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL]<o:p></o:p>[1967] GLR 290<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
1 MAY 1967.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

K. K. DEI-ANNANG FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

NO APPEARANCE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENTS.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

OLLENNU, APALOO AND LASSEY JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF APALOO J.A.<o:p></o:p>The
appellant was a passenger on a Bedford lorry which belonged to the second
respondent. While en route to Tamale from Agona, Ashanti, on 6 July 1960, this
lorry which was then in charge of the first respondent, was in collision with
an Albion truck which belonged to the government. The appellant sustained
severe injuries from this accident and is permanently disabled thereby. She
therefore brought an action against the respondents in the High Court, Tamale,
to recover damages on the ground that the injuries she sustained were
occasioned by the negligent driving of the first respondent.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The facts
alleged by the appellant were disputed and it is therefore necessary to relate
the divergent stories told by both sides. According to the appellant, she
boarded the first respondent’s lorry at Agona in the late afternoon of 5 July
1960. When the lorry got to Yeji, it was too late to cross the ferry, so she,
as well as the other passengers on board the lorry, stayed the night at Yeji.
They were ferried early on the morning of 6th July. While they were on their
way to Tamale, the first respondent was driving at great speed. He was then
admonished by one Adjei, who was also a passenger on the first respondent’s
lorry and who, like the appellant, sat on the front seat by the driver, to
moderate his speed. The first respondent declined to heed this warning as he
said he had to get to Tamale and off-load his goods before twelve o’clock noon.
He was carrying iron sheets.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>According
to the appellant, just before they got to a village whose name was given as
Jarentuli, they sighted a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Between
the first respondent’s lorry and the on-coming vehicle was a narrow culvert. It
was obvious that these two vehicles could not pass each other on the narrow
culvert. Accordingly, while the first respondent’s lorry was about 70 yards
from the culvert, the on-coming Albion truck stopped. It stopped very close to
the culvert at a distance variously estimated as two yards and between four to
five yards. The first respondent did not then reduce his speed, but continued
at the same speed and collided with the stationary Albion truck which was
pushed back about twenty yards. As a result of this impact, the appellant’s leg
was trapped in the first respondent’s lorry. This resulted in the grave
injuries for which she sought damages. The appellant’s account of the accident
was wholly corroborated by the evidence of Adjei and driver of the Albion truck
called Sylvester Kuchrogbe.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The first
respondent’s account of how the accident occurred was rather different.
According to him, just before reaching Jarentuli village, he negotiated a curve
and saw that an Albion lorry was coming towards him from the opposite
direction. It was a straight road and visibility was clear. He said that just
as he was about to pass the Albion lorry, its driver cut across the road and
made collision unavoidable. He said he was thus obliged to run into him. He
denied that the Albion lorry was stationary before the impact. He said he was driving
at a moderate speed which he estimated to be between 20 to 30 miles per hour.
He claimed that he was keeping a proper look-out and said, “If the other
vehicle had not crossed the road as it did, the accident would not have
occurred.” Apparently, no other person was able to support the first
respondent’s story and he rested his case on his lone evidence. This fact is
not of great importance as the learned trial judge was entitled to accept his
story in preference to that of the appellant and her witnesses if he thought
the first respondent was a witness of truth and that his version of the
accident was the more likely of the two.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
stories told by both sides are mutually exclusive and one of them must be
false. If the truth lay with the appellant, then there is, at least, prima
facie evidence of negligence against the first respondent. If the first
respondent’s is the truth, equally there would be a prima facie case of
negligence against Kuchrogbe, the driver of the Albion truck.<o:p></o:p>