COMMERCIAL SUPPLEMENT

Abstract

An owner of a car took it to a garage to be repaired. He had only been to the garage before for petrol. He did not go into the office where there was a notice on the window to the effect that the garage proprietor did not accept responsibility “for loss of or damage to motor vehicles while in our hands for repair … whether occasioned by fire or in any other way”. While a mechanic employed by the garage proprietor was emptying the petrol tank of the car he spilled about a pint of petrol as he had misjudged the amount of petrol in the tank and did not use a large enough can to drain it into. A few seconds later the car caught fire and was destroyed. It was impossible to discover what had actually caused the ignition. The owner of the car sued the garage proprietor for damages for the loss of his car. Held: (i) that on the facts the mechanic had been negligent; (ii) that the owner of the car had not made any previous use of the garage such as imposed on him any duty to make himself aware of what had been shown on the notice and the car owner was entitled to damages.

Citation

(1966), "COMMERCIAL SUPPLEMENT", Managerial Law, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 183-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb059563