Question: I was driving one day and skidded on a rather big oil patch causing damages to third party vehicles. I don’t think I should be blamed for these damages. What are my rights?
Many drivers are aware that an oil spill makes a vehicle harder to control and brake but also increases the probability of skidding. The Maltese Courts consider a skid as a normal circumstance which, in itself, is not enough to put neither the blame nor discharge the driver from causing the accident. As in any other type of incident, the person being blamed should prove that the accident did not happen as a result of him or her being grossly negligent or reckless. Therefore, the onus of proof always lies with the person alleging the cause of the accident.
Therefore, if there is a skid, one would have to prove that this was not caused through his or her own misconduct but that it was, in effect, an unexpected event. However, the driver should not only prove that the skid was as a result of a slippery road, but that the vehicle skidded without him or her being reckless and that all the necessary precautions expected from a prudent driver on a slippery road were taken. In fact, there were instances where the court found that the driver should not be held responsible for the accident as the main cause of such occurrence was the oil spill.
On the other hand, there were also instances where the defence of skidding presented by the driver did not hold. The courts found, for example, that the accident occurred as a result of reckless driving. In such instances, the driver was held responsible as he failed to drive prudently. Had he done so, he would have avoided the skid, or might have acted in a way that led to less severe damages resulting from the skid. Indeed, in a particular case, the court established that – even though the presence of oil was given as the possible cause of the skid – “the defendant should nevertheless have been able to negotiate the curve if traveling at an appropriate speed, and ruled in favour of the plaintiff”.
Therefore, the court may still find fault with a party (irrespective of the presence of oil) if the accident is caused as a result of over speeding, not maintaining the vehicle in a roadworthy condition (such as due to faulty tyres) or as a result of a contravention of traffic rules (such as over-taking on a double line). Hence, using oil spill as the reason for the occurrence of a particular accident may not always result in favour of the driver that is being held responsible for the accident.
In such instances, it is always important that any factors which may have led to the cause of the accident are noted in the warden or police report and are backed up with proper photographic evidence. It is fundamentally important that the driver uses his driving abilities to avoid any oil spill on the road especially if he notices other collisions in the vicinity or a vehicle dripping fuel/oil.
Most importantly, you should always act in utmost good faith when narrating facts and giving evidence of the circumstances of your case.
