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Legal Talk

Legal Talk

Author: Fawzia Khan
Date: 2013-03-07
How does the law view a driver who is faced with an unexpected dangerous situation, [referred to as "sudden emergencies"] and is forced to act on the spur of the moment? It could happen that whilst driving your vehicle, minding your own business, obeying all the traffic regulations, you may suddenly find yourself confronted with unexpected danger.

What happens when you lose control of your vehicle and in trying to avoid a catastrophe you end up causing the very collision you wanted to avoid? Whilst we all hope and pray that we and our loved ones are spared the trauma of experiencing such an unpleasant and potentially dangerous situation, it is worth knowing what the courts will look to absolve the driver from any negligent conduct.

Our courts accept that in times of crisis, we all will react differently. However the court will use the "reasonable man's test" to assess whether or not a driver acted negligently. The court will enquire whether the driver was able to exercise reasonable care and skill to avoid the danger.

The questions that will be asked by the court will be the following: Could the driver have foreseen the reasonable possibility that his conduct could cause harm? Did the driver take reasonable steps to prevent such occurrence, and did the driver fail to take such steps?

Our law says that a reasonable driver must not only anticipate and be prepared for a variety of road conditions he should also be prepared for the possibility of potential or actual danger.

You must prove that there was indeed an unexpected emergency. This means that there must be no prior knowledge or warning of the danger. There are innumerable cases involving sudden emergencies, which our courts have tried in the past, such as unexpected mechanical failure of a car, avoiding a pedestrian, burst tyres, skidding, aqua planning, being attacked and many others.

If a driver's vehicle goes into a skid, for example, the court will look at the road condition at the time, whether it was wet or not, the conditions of the tyres as well as what speed the driver was driving at the time.

Know your rights! Email fawzia@thelawdesk.co.za or call 031-5025670 for any legal assistance.