By James Mulholland

A HOLIDAYMAKER who was injured after a coach fell 30 feet down an embankment near the Rest and Be Thankful has won his compensation battle.

Allen Woodhouse was one of many passengers who sued Lochs and Glens (Transport Ltd) after a March 2015 accident on the A83.

His lawyers launched a legal action against the firm, which is based in Gartocharn, because he claimed it was liable for the accident through the actions of its employee, the driver.

Five people were seriously hurt and dozens more wounded after the bus veered off the road near Arrochar.

One passenger described how it felt like being in a “washing machine”. The coach flipped upside down before turning back onto its side and stopping just six feet from Loch Restil.

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A total of 51 visitors were onboard - most pensioners from the Kent area - when the coach crashed on its way to Inveraray.

Police didn’t charge driver Elizabeth Gallon because officers concluded that the accident was caused by freak gusts of wind.

Lawyers acting for Mr Woodhouse sought £15,000 compensation, claiming Ms Gallon was driving too quickly for the prevailing weather conditions.

Last year, judge Lord Glennie ruled against Mr Woodhouse, saying his lawyers hadn’t proven their legal case. However civil appeal judges Lord Carloway, Lord Woolman and Lord Pentland ruled against their colleague last Friday.

In a judgment issued at the Court of Session, the judges concluded that Lord Glennie had applied the wrong legal test in making his decision.

Awarding Mr Woodhouse £15,000, Lord Carloway wrote: “It was not for the pursuer to prove that the speed of the bus was excessive for the conditions.

“It was for the defenders to prove that it was not and in any event that the bus driver had not failed to take reasonable care to keep the bus on the carriageway.

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“Speed may have contributed to the accident but it was the driver’s loss of control of the bus which was the ultimate operative cause.

“The defenders had the task of proving that the loss of control was not negligent.

“For this reason alone, the Lord Ordinary’s decision cannot be sustained.”

Following the incident, passengers told of how they heard a loud bang moments before the coach plunged off the twisting road.

Witnesses said emergency crews were forced to cut through a panel in the vehicle to free trapped holidaymakers.

One victim said at the time: “I thought we were all going to be dead. I thought we were going into that loch. I’m surprised nobody died.

“The bus turned over but bounced and landed upright. The windows smashed.”

In his judgement, Lord Glennie tells of how the case was heard in Scotland’s highest civil court “because a decision on liability in this case is likely to assist in the resolution of claims by others who were injured in the accident”.

READ MORE: Tourist loses court case over coach crash on A83

Lawyers for Mr Woodhouse argued that Ms Gallon was driving too quickly just before the accident.

However, Lord Glennie concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate the claims that the coach was being driven too quickly for prevailing weather conditions.

However, the appeal judges found that Lord Glennie had came to the wrong conclusion about the evidence heard in the case.

Lord Carloway wrote: “The Lord Ordinary concluded that on the basis of the expert evidence, the bus was actually travelling at between 40mph and 45mph, when it was was hit by the first gust and between 35 to 40 mph, when it was hit by the second.

“It was thus going at more than twice the speed which the driver herself considered to be sensible when the gust first hit and possibly when the second gust did so too.

“The driver’s testimony amounted to an admission against interest that, if the Lord Ordinary’s findings on speed were correct, she was not driving sensibly.

“Her position, which was rejected by the Lord Ordinary, remained that she was not driving at the speeds which were ultimately proved."

Lord Carloway wrote: “Even when read of the whole context of the examination, and bearing in mind the limits of the appellate review, this admission is not capable of being glossed over in the manner adopted by the Lord Ordinary.

“The bus was being driven at twice the speed which the driver maintained she was doing and twice what she regarded as sensible for the conditions.

“It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to see how the driver could nevertheless be held not to be at fault when the consequence was that she was unable to react in sufficient time to control the bus and avoid the accident.

“The Lord Ordinary’s conclusion in this regard cannot be explained or justified.

“The court will find the defenders liable to make reparation to the pursuer in respect of the accident of March 26, 2015. This will be in the sum of £15,000.”

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