BROWN V. SALTPOND CERAMICS LTD.

ANNAN J.A.

This appeal concerns the application of the maxim res ipsa loquitur to an accident on the highway and the point that is to be determined is whether the plaintiff-appellant (hereinafter called the appellant) led any evidence to establish the negligence of the driver of a motor vehicle owned by the defendants-respondents (hereinafter called the respondents) and which knocked down his son on the road. The appellant was the only witness. He was, however, not present at the time of the accident. He went to the scene later. At the conclusion of the case for the appellant, counsel for the respondents called no evidence and submitted that there was no evidence of negligence before the court. The issue then is quite simple—whether the evidence of the appellant disclosed any negligence by the driver of the respondents’ vehicle.

These are the main points from the evidence. The deceased was about five years old. He lived in a house very close to a major road which crosses a busy market p…