Australian Torts Law
On a sunny Saturday morning in January, Rachel was driving to the beach when her
car broke down on a busy road. As there was a ‘No Stopping’ sign, Rachel tried to
push the car onto the grassy area next to the road, but it was too heavy. Rachel
decided to leave the car where it was until the roadside assistance company arrived.
The road was wide enough that other cars could get past Rachel’s car. Ben was on his
way to a party and decided to get into the party mood by playing loud music and
singing while driving. As Ben’s attention was not fully on the road, he failed to see
Rachel’s stationary car until it was too late. Ben swerved to avoid Rachel’s car but
still hit it, injuring Rachel who was sitting on the bonnet of the car. Ben’s car then
collided with Olivia’s car, which was travelling in the opposite direction. As a result
of the accident, Olivia is seriously injured. Miraculously, Ben has no injuries.
Discuss the rights and liabilities of the parties in tort.
All events took place in New South Wales in January 2015.
Citation must be in accordance with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3rd
edition).
Limit your answer to “The Tort of Negligence” covering the issues related to:
i. Duty of Care
2. Standard of care and breach
3. Causation and Scope of Liability for Consequences
Please Note: you are not required to discuss Defences.
Prescribed text
o Luntz, H., Hambly, D., Burns, K., Dietrich,J. and Foster, N., Torts: Cases
and
Commentary, (LexisNexis, 7th ed, 2012) (ISBN 9780409328462)
and;
0 Clarke, A.D., Devereux,J.A., Werren J. and O’Reilly,J., Torts: A
Practical Learning Approach (LexisNexis, 3rd Ed, 2013) (ISBN
9780409323964).
References
At least 10 Australian cases are to be cited (you could use the list below), and at
least 5 references.