Vehicle parked on road without signals solely responsible for accident: Karnataka HC sets aside 40% contributory negligence in fatal crash

The case involved an appeal in the Karnataka High Court against a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal order that previously attributed contributory negligence to a man who died in an accident, effectively reducing the payout to his family.

3 min readBengaluruFeb 2, 2026 02:19 PM IST

Karnataka High Court (File Photo)

The Karnataka High Court recently ruled that a driver or vehicle owner who parks their vehicle in the middle of the road at night, without signals, indicators, lights, or reflectors, is entirely responsible for any resulting accident. In this case, the driver who crashes into the parked vehicle cannot be considered to have contributed to the negligence by failing to see it, the court noted.

A single-judge bench of Justice P Sree Sudha, in its order dated January 23, held thus while setting aside the order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, which held a man who died in a road accident partially liable for it on the ground that he would have seen a parked vehicle if he had driven the car slowly.

The accident occurred on August 21, 2022, when P Ramesh was driving a car near Empedu Eswaraiah Colony in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. He collided with a tractor-trailer that was parked in the middle of the road. As a result, he sustained grievous injuries, and during the course of treatment, he succumbed to injuries.

Subsequently, his wife, children and mother filed a petition seeking compensation of Rs 40 lakh. However, the Tribunal, considering the evidence on record, granted only Rs 18.13 lakh.

The Tribunal held that Ramesh was 40 per cent negligent in the accident, although the driver of the tractor-trailer parked the vehicle in the middle of the road without taking any precautionary measures. Merely because the chargesheet is filed against the driver of the tractor, it cannot be said that he alone was negligent for causing the accident, it noted.

Accident victim was not able to see parked vehicle

The high court bench, however, referred to Regulation 15(2)(iv) of the Rules of the Road Regulation, 1989, which mandates that a driver of a motor vehicle should not park his vehicle on a main road or one carrying fast traffic.

Noting that the parking of the tractor on the national highway itself was prohibited, the high court said the accident occurred at about 12.30 am, as Ramesh was not able to see the parked vehicle.

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The court held, “Therefore, the entire negligence is on the driver of the parked tractor in the middle of the road and there is no negligence on the part of P Ramesh, who was driving the car. The contributory negligence fixed to the extent of 40 per cent is without appreciation of the facts properly and is set aside.”

The bench revised the compensation awarded to the claimants under various categories. It modified the Tribunal’s order by increasing the compensation amount to Rs 24.93 lakh. The bench directed the insurance company concerned to deposit this amount within one month.