Can a plaintiff recover damages for injuries sustained by a defendant who failed to observe the provisions prescribed by section 8 of the Public Safety Act?

It was strongly contended by counsel for the defendant that no right of action accrued to the plaintiff by reason of the defendant’s failure to observe the precautions prescribed by statute. He argued that the statute in question in this action was one passed for the benefit of the public generally, and that therefore, an individual had no right of action for breach of its provisions, but that the only remedy for such breach lay in the imposition of the penalty provided in section 12. I cannot agree with this contention. In my opinion section 8 of the Act was passed to ensure the safety and protection of persons riding or driving horses upon the highway. To this class the plaintiff belonged. He was therefore a person for whose benefit the statute was passed. The right of such an one to bring an action for damages for injuries received on account of the non-observance of the statute was laid down by Lord Kinnear in the very recent case of Butler v. The Fife Coal Company. [1912] A.C. 149, as follows:— I agree that if an absolute duty is imposed upon mine-owners by statute they must be liable absolutely to those for whose benefit it is imposed.