Motorist who killed pedestrian at 140km/hr ordered to pay €324,000
An appeals court has doubled the compensation awarded to the parents of a young pharmacist killed when she was hit by a car driven at 140km/h on Gzira seafront in 2017.
Stephanie Rapa, 30, had been crossing the busy thoroughfare when she was hit by a white GTR Nissan driven by 46-year-old Anthony Chircop, on October 19, 2017 at around 7.45pm.
Last June, the first court awarded the parents €162,000 in damages in a civil action against the driver and his car insurance company. The court had found that both the driver and the pedestrian were responsible for the accident.
But the Court of Appeal, presided by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and judges Giannino Caruana Demajo and Anthony Ellul found that it was only the motorist who was responsible.
There was no doubt that dangerous driving, at a speed of 140 kilometres per hour, was the reason why Rapa had lost her life, the appeals court said.
The dynamics of the incident were recorded from different angles by CCTV footage and were later also confirmed by eyewitnesses who recalled how they saw “a lady thrown in the air” between two palm trees on the central strip and then “hitting her head on the ground”.
Court heard traffic expert...