Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court has ruled that when a tractor and trailer are in motion, they are considered a single motor vehicle. Therefore, even if only the tractor is insured and not the trailer, the insurance company cannot escape liability.The court upheld the compensation of Rs 5.1 lakh to the family of a man who died in a freak accident in Shivamogga in 2010.The incident occurred when the hook of a moving trailer caught an electric wire that was about to be fixed to a pole. The wire dragged the pole, which broke and fell on the head of labourer Malatesh Didagur, resulting in his death.Didagur was working for L&T, which had secured a contract from the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited to install an electricity board on Halemalalikoppa Road in Shivamogga.His family from Hosalli village, Haveri district, approached the local Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, which in March 2012, awarded Rs 5.1 lakh with an interest rate of 6% per annum. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company appealed the order, arguing that the deceased man’s death was not the result of a motor vehicle accident, as the tractor did not strike him directly and the tractor and trailer were not responsible for the collapse of the electricity pole.Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar noted that although the tractor and trailer did not directly collide with the deceased, the negligent operation of the vehicle led to the trailer’s hook catching the electric wire, which caused the pole to fall. “There was rashness and negligence on the part of the driver of the tractor, which was correctly appreciated by the tribunal,” the judge added.He explained that a trailer cannot operate without a tractor engine; when connected, the tractor and trailer constitute a single motor vehicle. Consequently, if only the tractor is insured, the insurance company cannot evade liability since the entire vehicle is implicated in the accident.
