Zoe Haines v Ross Talbott

Facts

On 7 January 2023 the claimant, Zoe Haines, then aged 20 and 23 weeks pregnant, was driving her 2008-registered Ford Fiesta westbound on the unlit A30 dual carriageway some eight miles west of Bodmin in Cornwall, with her partner Liam Hocking in the passenger seat. Shortly before the journey she had bought a can of oil and topped up the engine, substantially overfilling it: against an oil capacity of 3.8 litres she added 2.25 litres too much. At about 5.10pm the car rattled, lost power and emitted large quantities of smoke. She pulled towards the nearside and stopped parallel with the rumble strip, the car still protruding 0.6m into the inside lane. She switched off the engine and the headlights, and it is accepted she cannot show she switched on the hazard lights. Mr Hocking, who could see barely beyond his outstretched hand for smoke and feared fire, got out on the passenger side; Ms Haines got out on the driver's side. A Renault Trafic van driven by the defendant, Ross Talbott, travelling behind at around 55mph, drove into an impenetrable patch of smoke, braked hard and collided with the open driver's door and with Ms Haines, who was seriously injured. Master Gidden ordered liability to be tried as a preliminary issue.