Accident caused by a sneeze?

In May 2023 I was riding my GSX-R1000 on a dual carriageway in the offside lane when a van on the inside lane crossed right into my lane, knocking me off my bike. I had to take time off work and my full recovery took 7 months. The van driver has blamed what happened on an unexpected sneezing fit! His solicitor told my lawyer that they don’t accept their client was to blame for the accident on that basis, as the sneezing fit which caused the loss of control was not his fault. I thought it was a joke at first, but sadly not. Surely they can’t get away with this?

Richard D, by e-mail

Answer

They are relying on a legal defence called automatism. This is when a person cannot be held responsible for his or her actions because they had no knowledge or control of them. For example, committing a crime whilst sleep-walking or having an epileptic fit out of the blue whilst driving. Automatism defences can succeed where a person experiences a total loss of control through no fault of their own such that they cannot have been negligent, though they are difficult to make out and more commonly involve episodes such as heart attacks or strokes.

Ultimately, the driver will have to persuade a court (i) that he suffered a sneezing fit (ii) that the sneezing fit caused him to veer into your path; and (iii) that the sneezing fit was out of the blue, and that he wasn’t driving knowing he may experience sneezing fits. For example, that he did not have bad hay fever that day, which he knew could cause the sneezing.

It will be important to scrutinise the van driver’s medical records for any relevant history.