Facts
- Young was riding his motorcycle and was hit by a car and died.
- Mrs Bourhill, who was on the tram at the time, heard the crash, commenting “I just got in a pack of nerves, and I did not know whether I was going to get it or not.”
- Mrs Bourhill later saw blood on the road.
- She later suffered a stillbirth and blamed Mr Young for the nervous shock.
Issue
- Could Mrs Bourhill claim for the nervous shock suffered?
Held
- No, because Mrs Bourhill was just a bystander and never in actual risk of harm.
- It was too remote and not foreseeable.
Quote
“I am unable to see how he could reasonably anticipate that, if he came into collision with a vehicle coming across the tramcar into Glenlockhart Road, the resultant noise would cause physical injury by shock to a person standing behind the tramcar.”
-- Download Bourhill v Young [1943] AC 92 as PDF --

