An Indian-origin doctor, ordered by a UK court to pay Rs 1.4 crore, hit a schoolgirl with her luxury car, causing her severe injuries when the girl crossed the pedestrian crossing when the traffic light was hit green.
Dr. Shanthi Chandran is a consultant physician at Milton Keynes Hospital. In January 2018, she hit a then 12-year-old schoolgirl on Buckingham Road in Bicester, Oxfordshire, with her BMW i3 Range Extender car while she was on her way to work. The 12-year-old girl is now 18 years old.
A police officer said that the schoolgirl’s head was struck near the windscreen of the car, causing the glass of the car to shatter. After being hit by the car, the girl was thrown 11 meters past the pedestrian crossing and fell near the petrol station. As a result of the fall, the girl sustained a severe head injury and was bleeding; she also fractured her collarbone, the report said.
During the first year after the accident, she suffered from cognitive and psychiatric problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, and she also suffered from nightmares, according to court documents.
The girl in her case claimed that Dr. Chandran was driving very fast during that time, and the collision would not have happened if she had driven the car at a reasonable speed and safely; her negligence caused the incident.
Dr. Chandran said that she was driving her car at a speed of 28 mph, which is below the 30 mph limit as it is the applicable speed limit. She said that she immediately stopped the car after she saw that the girl was stuck and said the girl stepped on the road when the traffic light was green.
Dr. Chandran was ordered by Deputy High Court Judge Dexter Dias KC to pay the girl Rs 1.4 crore, that is, 135,000 pounds, for the damages caused by her. The court found that the defendant was also primarily responsible for the incident, as the defendant stepped out into the road when the traffic light was hit green, so the court gave a 40 percent reduction to the initially proposed 225,000 pounds for damages, thereby apportioning a liability of 60/40 in favor of the claimant.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Rohini Devi)
