Slip and Trip under Occupier’s Liability Act
In July 2018, the plaintiff and her husband booked a pitch at the defendant’s caravan park. The pitch was longer than their caravan’s electricity cable, so the defendant provided an extension lead. The husband connected their cable to the service post using this extension.
The next day, the plaintiff tripped on the cable while returning from filling her kettle at the service post, breaking her arm and injuring her thumb. An engineer testified that the cable posed a tripping hazard in a pedestrian area, especially at such a distance from the pitch. The plaintiff argued that the defendant had a duty of care to minimize this risk.
The case was considered under Section 3 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act, 1995, which requires property owners to ensure visitors are not injured by hazards on their premises. Previous cases were reviewed, including Lavin v Dublin Airport (2016), which distinguished between “unusual” and “usual” dangers, and White v William Doherty (2019), where the Court of Appeal ruled that uneven surfaces at a caravan park were a “naturalistic setting” where visitors are expected to take care.
Mr. Justice Coffey ruled that no liability existed. He found that the cable, in this case, was a “usual danger” that a visitor could anticipate and avoid with reasonable care. The plaintiff was aware of the cable’s location and could have avoided it by walking around the front of the caravan. Additionally, she had stepped over the cable earlier without issue and had been able to avoid it while filling her kettle.
The judge noted the plaintiff wore flip-flops, which made it harder to step over the cable, but concluded that the cable’s position was not an “unusual danger.” He ruled that the defendant had not breached their duty of care, dismissing the case.
Scanlan v Michael McDonnell t/a The Woodlands Caravan and Camping Park [2024] IEHC 324.
