A Longford fitness enthusiast and father of three who told a court that he was unable to lift a shopping bag or do the grocery shopping after being “grazed” by another car was found dead by a court in a personal proceedings to 8,000 euros awarded injury claim.
In Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford said Patrick Joyce’s car was “grazed” by another car, causing the “wing mirrors to touch each other.”
In addition to awarding Mr Joyce €8,000, Judge Comerford awarded his then pregnant wife and passenger Helen Joyce €11,000 in personal injury.
In the assessment, in which the other driver accepted liability for the collision, Judge Comerford also awarded Mr Joyce (27) material damages from damage to his Volkswagen car of €1,254.
He stated that he was “satisfied that there was no significant impact”. He said that Mr. Joyce’s wheel arch was damaged, which was significant because there was an indentation.
The court was told the 2018 accident is one of three traffic accidents, the others in 2016 and 2020 involving Mr Joyce, where he has complained of lower back pain.
In cross-examination by Peter Klein for the other drivers’ insurers, Mr. Joyce initially stated that he had not been involved in any other accident after the 2018 accident. Judge Comerford said he accepts that Mr Joyce “was not forthright about his damage history” and was “far too reticent about his damage history”.
However, he added that Mr Joyce’s evidence regarding his damage history did not meet the threshold for dismissing his lawsuit over the 2018 accident.
As evidence, Garda Brian Donnellan told the court that at around 10.30pm on 28 March 2018 the two cars involved in the accident were parked in a forecourt off Kildysart Road which led to Clarecastle near Ennis.
Gda Donnellan said there was no damage to the other driver’s car and the only damage to Joyce’s car was a broken wing mirror.
He said the driver of the other car did not dispute Mr Joyce’s statement that he crossed the white line and collided with Mr Joyce’s wing mirror.
Gda Donnellan said: “As I was taking the details, Patrick Joyce told me everything was fine, no one was hurt and ‘we can work it out ourselves’.”
However, Mr Joyce subsequently filed a personal injury lawsuit, telling the court that he had neck pain for six to eight weeks and back pain for a year as a result of the accident, which prevented him from playing sports.
Mr. Joyce, a fitness enthusiast and marathon runner, told the court, “I used to do 150 bench presses.”
Asked by Mr Klein why he told Gda Donnellan they would sort it out themselves, Mr Joyce said he was in shock after the collision.
