$1m Payout Worries Councils
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday July 30, 1992
A Supreme Court decision ordering Blacktown City Council to pay $1.1 million to a man who became a paraplegic when his motorcycle skidded on a slippery road has alarmed local councils.
Jardine Australia Insurance Brokers, which deals with the insurance for 120 councils in NSW, received calls from several local council representatives yesterday. They were concerned that their councils might be sued over similar road accidents.
The director and manager for the firm's local government division, Mr Leo Demer , said the councils were protected by a legal principle - the nonfeasance rule - which did not blame them for road accidents unless they had altered or repaired the roads.
If they carried out repairs and did so negligently, they were guilty of misfeasance and could be liable, he said: "If they make repairs they put themselves at risk of claims."
Justice Grove, in the Supreme Court, ordered Blacktown City Council yesterday to pay Mr Grant Michael Scanlon , of Baulkham Hills, $1.1 million as a result of an accident on Christmas Eve 1981.
Mr Scanlon, who was 18 at the time, became a paraplegic when he lost control of his motorcycle.
He said his wheels skidded on water on Vardys Road in Blacktown, and claimed that the council was responsible because it had not constructed the road properly when it was built in 1974.
Justice Grove was persuaded that the council was negligent on a "narrow margin of probability".
He said the construction of a gutter, which was not built according to plans, "precipitated a greater flow of water across the road than might reasonably be expected". This had caused Mr Scanlon to lose control of his cycle, he said.
© 1992 Sydney Morning Herald
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