Inevitable Accident - Law of Torts - Notes

Inevitable Accident - It means an unexpected injury which could not have been avoided in spite of a reasonable care on the part of the defendant.

Holms v. Mather [(1875) LR 10 Ex 261] :- If the driver is not able to control the horses which are startled by a barking dog and the plaintiff is thereby injured, the defendant will not be liable.

Fardon v Harcourt-Rivington  [(1932) 48 TLR 215]- The defendant left his dog inside his parked car. The broke the glass in the rear window of the car which hit the plaintiff, resulting in the loss of one of his eyes. The House of Lords held that the chance of a passer-by being hurt by a splinter of glass was so small that a reasonable man would not guard against it, so the defence of inevitable accident was accepted.