Car crash injury compensation news
20/03/2008

ACT third party coverage under fire

A 70-year-old passenger who acted heroically to avoid a potentially fatal road accident after her husband suffered a heart attack while behind the wheel has been denied car crash injury compensation by an unfortunate legal quirk.

It was only the pensioner's quick thinking and bravery - she grabbed the steering wheel and guided the careering vehicle across two lanes of traffic, with her husbands foot still firmly pressed to the accelerator - that prevented the inevitability of a two-car collision. Yet she has been told that the Australian Capital Territory's outdated laws on third party coverage will exclude her from receiving car crash injury compensation for her injuries, which included four broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken breastbone.

Unfortunately for the woman, Australia's federal system means that if she were resident just a few miles north, in the state of New South Wales, she would not even have needed a no win, no fee lawyer to help her claim car crash injury compensation.

The ACT's shadow attorney general Bill Stefaniak commented on the unfairness of this disparity, "The NSW Motor Accidents Authority's Guide for People Injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident says a person injured in a blameless accident, including an accident 'caused by a driver suffering a sudden illness, such as a heart attack' can 'make a claim for personal injury compensation'."

"These types of accidents are rare, but need to be covered in our laws."