Following a car crash involving eight Polish people where two cars collided on an approach to a roundabout at Lusk, Co Dublin – personal injury claims totalling up to approximately €500,000 were lodged on Monday
Arkadiusz Rokicki (23); Daniel Kutszal (24) and his sister, Majal Kutszal (34), all with addresses in the village of Lusk, suffered injuries when they were passengers in a car crash. The car was being driven by the defendant Dariusz Chudyk who is now living in Poland but was indemnified through his insurance policy with Axa.
Legal counsel for the claimants, Barrister Paul Gallagher who was appearing with Robert Anderson of Anderson and Gallagher Solicitors, informed the court they were injured when Mr Chudyk’s car crashed into the back of another vehicle as he was driving near a roundabout in Lusk. It was alleged that all of the claimants had suffered whiplash injuries as a result of the crash.
Mr Gallagher told the court that each of his clients had experienced pain and stiffness to the neck and in their lower back following the road traffic accident and had been prescribed medication to deal with the pain.
Judge Groarke said he was satisfied the accident was a genuine one and that there was no question left in his mind other than that it was a genuine accident and the claimants were equally authentic. He said: “There is nothing in that evidence to compel me to accept that these people do know one another or that there is any association between them. I don’t blame the insurance company for adopting a very defensive attitude to this case which had the hallmarks of something that warrants that degree of investigation. Every case of this nature warrants a degree of investigation.”
Judge Groarke awarded each claimant damages of €10,000 with District Court costs due to the extent of their injuries. There are still five remaining car accident compensation actions to be heard due to this accident. Each claimant is also suing for personal injury compensation of €60,000 amounting to a total compensation claim value of €480,000.