Threshold injury found not to apply to public transport accidents

In Brief

• Part 4 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (MAIA) and Chapter 5 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (MACA) provide for alternative regimes for the assessment of damages.
• Section 121(1) of the Transport Administration Act 1988 (the TAA) effectively provides that Chapter 5 of MACA governs a claim for damages arising from a "public transport accident" and displaces the damages regime in Part 4 of MAIA.
• Section 121(3) of the TAA includes a definition of "public transport accident" which contemplates transport services available for use by members of the public, as part of an ordinary passenger transport system, even where a privately owned vehicle is deployed pursuant to a contractual arrangement with Transport for NSW.