Where both a driver and pedestrian are significantly intoxicated, equal apportionment of contributory negligence may be appropriate where both departures from the standard of care are serious and both have significant causal potency. A trial judge's uncritical acceptance of a plaintiff's costing report without engaging with conflicting expert evidence on specific heads of damage constitutes appellable error. In assessing lost earning capacity, the court must have explicit regard to the individual plaintiff's actual employment history and personal characteristics, and must not assume continuous employment where the evidence does not support it.
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