A woman who was hurt when another car "very lightly" touched hers and broke only a £14 indicator lens has been awarded £19,330 damages in the Circuit Civil Court for whiplash injuries.
The President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Smyth, said it was the experience of courts that a very slight impact was sufficient to cause significant injuries to people, particularly if their posture was turned at an angle.
He said the defendant's attitude to the claim of Ms Breda Cahill was that the type of injuries she complained of was out of proportion to the extent of actual impact.
"I am satisfied in light of her evidence and the medical evidence on the balance of probabilities that the injuries were quite significant and in all probability resulted from the accident," Mr Justice Smyth said.
Ms Cahill, a 29-year-old catering manager at Dublin Airport, sued Warpspeed Ltd, trading as J Harris (Assemblers), Haddington Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, for up to £30,000 damages.
Mr Dermot Flanagan, counsel for Ms Cahill, who lives at Carndonagh Drive, Donaghmede, Dublin, said his client was parking her car at Dublin Airport in May 1997 when a car belonging to Warpspeed reversed into her. She, too, had been moving backwards to give the Warpspeed driver a little more room and had been looking across her shoulder when her car was hit.
Mr Justice Smyth said the defendant's vehicle had very lightly contacted her car as was evidenced by the cost of damage - £14.53p - to the indicator light. Ms Cahill said she had been jerked forward when her car jumped on impact.
He said the medical evidence recorded a significant whiplash injury. She would require further injections to the painful areas of her neck and shoulder.