Court rules grocery shop owner negligent after woman cycling past hit by falling shop panel

The rectangular panels made of polycarbonate were 2m high and 1.5m wide. There were three such panels put up on that day.

Mr Lee said the panels were “very light” and “can be picked up by a child”, but the judge responded that it was “unclear what specimen of a child” he had in mind.

Estimating the thickness of each panel to be at least 3mm and using an estimated density of polycarbonate, he said each panel should weigh at least 10kg.

Judge Ng said the defendant owed a duty to take reasonable care to secure items such as the panels that are within the shop’s control, so that they do not cause harm to passers-by.

The top edge of each panel is slotted into a groove in the canopy. The bottom edge is held at rest by static friction generated through contact with the ground.

The judge said this set-up failed to satisfy the required standard of care, as each panel was “always in a state of uneasy equilibrium”. He noted that the set-up was chosen to suit the shop’s own convenience.

While Mr Lee said that “people outside also use the same boards to shield the sun and rain”, the judge noted that common practice alone does not determine whether the practice satisfies the required standard of care.

He said the set-up was inherently unstable and unreliable, as a panel was likely to fall sharply and abruptly if unintentionally dislodged.

The court scrutinised closed-circuit television video footage from a camera inside the shop that pointed outdoors.

The defendant later accepted that the video showed the panel “disappearing” from view just as Mdm Aminah cycled past.

Mdm Aminah said a strong wind could have dislodged the panel, but the judge rejected this as the outdoor fabric banners were not shown to be fluttering much at the time of the incident.

An employee in the store was deep within the indoor premises and did not see or hear the accident.

The defendant argued that the natural and probable cause of the accident was that Mdm Aminah’s bicycle had dislodged the panel as she cycled past, but the judge also rejected this.

He said a metal trolley was protruding from the middle of the shopfront, and Mdm Aminah was likely to have approached the panel with a sufficient margin after clearing the trolley.

“I also find that the way in which the panel dropped out of view in the video was inconsistent with what would have happened had the front wheel or the handlebars of her bicycle hit its vertical edge,” said Judge Ng.

He noted that Mr Lee was given the chance to explain what caused the panel to fall, but said he could only “guess”. He also did not identify the employee who had put up the panel or get them to testify.

“This leads me to find that the panel fell and struck Mdm Aminah owing to the negligence of the defendant,” said Judge Ng.

He found no contributory negligence on the part of Mdm Aminah, even though the defendant argued that she should not have cycled on the pathway or taken that route, and that she should have worn a helmet.

Judge Ng said there was no prohibition against cycling on that pathway, that Mdm Aminah was cycling at a reasonable speed and did not swerve, and that there was no legal requirement for cyclists to wear a helmet if they are not cycling on a road.

Damages will be assessed in a later hearing, along with costs.