Damages Bicycle Moral Exemplary Rider Client Quasi Delict Police

II.

A collision occurred at an intersection involving a bicycle and a taxicab. Both the bicycle rider (a businessman then doing his morning exercise) and the taxi driver claimed that the other was at fault. Based on the police report, the bicycle crossed the intersection first but the taxicab, crossing at a fast clip from the bicycle's left, could not brake in time and hit the bicycle's rear wheel, toppling it and throwing the bicycle rider into the sidewalk 5 meters away.

The bicycle rider suffered a fractured right knee, sustained when he fell on his right side on the concrete side walk. He was hospitalized and was subsequently operated on, rendering him immobile for 3 weeks and requiring physical rehabilitation for another 3 months. In his complaint for damages, the rider prayed for the award of P1,OOO,OOO actual damages, P200,000 moral damages, P200,000 exemplary damages, P100,000 nominal damages and P50,000 attorney's fees.

Assuming the police report to be correct and as the lawyer for the bicycle rider, what evidence (documentary and testimonial) and legal arguments will you present in court to justify the damages that your client claims? (8%)

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

I will base the claim of my client on quasi-delict under Article 2176 of the Civil Code of the Philippines.

The requisites for a claim under quasi-delict to prosper are as follows:

1.  Act or omission, there being fault or negligence;

2.  Damage or injury; and

3.  Causal connection between the damage and the act or omission.  

The case clearly involves a quasi-delict where my client, the bicycle rider, suffered injury as a result of the negligence of the overspeeding taxi driver, without fault on my client's part.

To prove actual damages, aside from the testimony of my client,  I will present his hospital and medical bills.  Receipts of the fees paid on the rehabilitation will also be presented.  I will also call the attending physician to testify as to the extent of the injuries suffered by my client, and to corroborate the contents of the medical documents.

Based on Article 2202, in quasi-delicts, the defendant shall be liable for all damages which are the natural and probable consequences of the act of omission complained of.  It is not necessary that such damages have been foreseen or could have been foreseen by the defendant.

Unlike actual damages, no proof of pecuniary loss is necessary in order that moral, nominal, temperate, liquidated or exemplary damages may be adjudicated.  The assessment is left to the discretion of the Court(Art. 2216 Civil Code).  There must still be proof of pecuniary estimation, however.

Moral damages can be recovered by my client under Articles 2219 and 2200. Moral damages may be recovered in case of a quasi-delict causing physical injuries.  Additionally, it must be proved that such damages were the proximate result of the act complained of.  Medical certificates will be presented, along with the testimony from my client and other eyewitness accounts, in order to support the award for moral damages.

Exemplary damages may be granted if the defendant acted in wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent manner.  While the amount of exemplary damages need not be proved, the plaintiff must show that he is entitled to moral or compensatory damages.  In support of this, I will present the police report showing the circumstances under which the accident took place, taking into account the action of the parties.  I will ask the officials who responded to the accident to testify as to the conduct of the parties at the time of the accident in order to determine whether defendant was guilty of gross negligence.

Finally, attorney's fees may be recovered when exemplary damages are awarded. (Art. 2208, Civil Code).