Taxi driver’s case thrown out

Taxi driver Emmet Fay, who had claimed €38,000 damages for injuries he received in a hit-and-run accident almost five years ago, yesterday agreed to a judge throwing out his claim.

Mr Fay, aged 46, of Lismore Rd, Crumlin, decided not to follow through with his claim against the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland after telling Judge Jacqueline Linnane in the Circuit Civil Court about the accident.

Counsel for the MIBI told the judge that, after talks, the case had been settled on the basis that the court would make an order dismissing Mr Fay’s claim with no order as to costs.

He had earlier told the court that, on May 5, 2009, he had been driving his 1998-registered taxi with three passengers towards the junction of Dry Canal and Maryland Road when it was struck by a since-untraced and speeding Honda Accord.

Mr Fay claimed he had suffered injuries to his chest, neck, back, jaw, and elbow, and sued the MIBI, which bears the bill for uninsured or stolen vehicles and unidentified or untraced drivers.

In cross-examination, he said he could not understand why an MIBI inspector and a garda, both of whom were to be witnesses, recorded him as having said his taxi was a 1999 vehicle.

He also told the court he did not know any of his passengers that day and was not aware that they, too, had launched €38,000 damages claims against the MIBI through the same legal firm as he employed to prosecute his claim.

Mr Fay said he did not think it strange to have registered and insured his taxi in his own name on the same day as the accident.