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Snapshot

  • Drivers in single vehicle accidents may bring a claim under the blameless accident provisions of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW).
  • Section 7E of the Act does not prohibit a driver from making a claim pursuant to the blameless accident provisions so long as the driver did not perform an act or omission which caused the accident.
  • Gary Connaughton v Pacific Rail Engineering Pty Ltd (Unreported, District Court of New South Wales, Judge Norton SC, 26 February 2015) is the first judicial decision on the blameless accident provisions of the Act applying to a single vehicle accident.

Drivers in single vehicle accidents may bring a claim under the blameless accident provisions in Part 1.2 Division 1 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW) (‘the Act’) in certain circumstances. Section 7E of the Act does not prohibit a driver from making a claim pursuant to the blameless accident provisions so long as the driver did not perform an act or omission that caused the accident.

So what of single vehicle accidents? Who is to blame then? The first judicial decision on the blameless accident provisions of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act applying to a single vehicle accident was recently handed down in the case of Gary Connaughton v Pacific Rail Engineering Pty Ltd (Unreported, District Court of New South Wales, Judge Norton SC, 26 February 2015).

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