Car Engine Danger - Essay Example

This particular case relates to the tort of negligence and duty of care which was primarily established in the case of Donoghue V Stevenson by lord atkin whereby a three-tier test was introduced which formally established the principles of Duty of Care, negligence and laid down the principles whereby a manufacturer could be found to be negligent and a claim could be made by the final consumers, which was further reformed by later cases which included Anns V Merton and Murphy V Brentwood District Council owed by a fire extinguisher or emergency services on duty to the road users in general. In this case, a person was injured in a road accident, as he was hit by a fire engine that had ignored the red light while on duty to save lives by reaching the location as soon as possible so that any extra damage to the property and life could be minimized.

The key issue, in this case, was whether there was any immunity and privilege enjoyed by fire extinguishers gave them a right to run over people while on duty and whether any exception exists in favor of emergency services on duty or whether the general principles of tort of negligence are applicable in these situations.

The Court of Appeal held in this case that "It is said that, because he was driving a fire engine, he was in a certain privileged position. That is not so. He was not in a privileged position at all. It is perfectly true that, when the bell is clanged, people generally draw aside, but, if they do not draw aside, the driver of a fire engine has no business to charge into them. He must use reasonable care, and get to the scene of the fire as quickly as possible. Indeed, the traffic regulations of the London County Council make it perfectly clear that that is the position that is recognized by them. The fire brigade must get there as quickly as possible, and they add, and I have no doubt rightly, that stopping at the red signal in practice is found not to hamper the proper conduct of the fire brigade in the carrying out of its duty”.

In this case, the Fire authority was held liable for negligence caused by the fire engine which went through a red light on the way to extinguish the fire the Court of Appeal said that even though fire extinguishers are met with an emergency situation and they are in a rush to reach a location in emergency situations it does not give them authority to run over people and there exists no exception from negligence law for the emergency services including fire services and the main reason behind this policy decision was that little logic could be seen in rushing to save someones life’s if others are killed in the process. If this is allowed it could be easily argued that the life of one citizen was given preference over the life of others.