Judgment date: 28 November 2011
Axiak by her tutor D. Axiak v Ingram [2011]
NSWSC 1447
Supreme Court of New South Wales1
In Brief
- The definition of "fault" in s 3 extends to
include contributory negligence for the purposes of identifying
whether an accident is "blameless" within
Division 1 of Part 1.2.
- Where a pedestrian's own negligence caused, or contributed
to the accident, the accident will not be
"blameless".
- Contributory negligence in s 7F applies to matters where the
injured person's own lack of care contributes to his or her own
injuries, but which did not cause the accident itself, such as
where a passenger fails to wear a seat belt.
Background
At approximately 4 pm on Thursday, 26 June 2008 the plaintiff
(who was then 14 years old) and her younger sister were passengers
on a school bus travelling in a northerly direction along Sackville
Road, Ebenezer. The bus pulled partly onto the road shoulder
opposite the plaintiff's home and
