Sutherland v Gardiner 1981 SLT 237  

On the 29th July 1975, Charles Sutherland was riding his Yamaha motorcycle from his house towards his local garage in Inverness. This was a route that Sutherland was familiar with, and it took him along a slip road that curved slightly to his left on a downhill gradient.

As he was rounding the bend, he was travelling at no more than 20 mph. The slip road took him towards a housing estate, so he was aware that he might find some cars parked along his side of the road. He moved his motorcycle towards the centre of the road in order to avoid any potential parked cars.

As Sutherland rounded the bend, he encountered a red Rover car, driven by Mr Alexander Gardiner, which Sutherland claimed was reversing slowly towards him, in his lane. The Rover was positioned close to the centre of the road and created an obstruction. Sutherland swerved to avoid the Rover but lost control, leading to a severe accident which sadly resulted in paralysis from the middle of his back, downwards.

The court found that both parties were at fault. Gardiner admitted that his car had been stopped in a position that obstructed traffic, although he claimed he had not anticipated it to be dangerous. However, the court determined that Sutherland was also at fault for not keeping a proper lookout, given his awareness that cars might be parked in that area.

The liability was split, with Gardiner found to be 40% responsible for parking in a hazardous position and Sutherland 60% responsible for failing to ride cautiously around the bend.

The full Court summary can be downloaded at 237 Sutherland v Gardiner