Passenger’s duty to question driver

Booth v White CA SJ 28 November

The claimant, although he did not know how much alcohol the defendant had drunk, knew that he had been drinking in a public house for over five hours. He nevertheless allowed himself to be the front seat passenger in a car driven by the defendant, who lost control of the car resulting in an accident in which the claimant suffered severe injuries to his right leg. The defendant had in fact consumed between 10 and 15 pints of lager. The judge accepted the evidence of the claimant’s wife that the defendant was acting normally and that nothing led her to believe that he could not drive safely. The Court of Appeal rejected the argument of the defendant’s insurers that the claimant should have known that there was a significant risk that the defendant had drunk to excess and he should therefore have asked the defendant how much he had had to drink before getting into the car. The law would take a wrong turning if it required an interrogation of the type the defendant had suggested.