Personal Injury
Public Transport Accidents

Compensation is available for road users who are injured, or the dependents of a person killed as the result of accidents whilst travelling on or caused by public transport vehicles, namely buses, ferries, trams and even trains.

Public transport accident compensation is the same as other motor vehicle accident compensation claims made for injuries or death caused by the negligent driving of cars, motorcycles, taxis and trucks.

Claims involving physical and/or mental injuries on or caused by public transport vehicles can include compensation for pain and suffering, past and future loss of wages, loss of earning capacity, medical treatment, care/domestic assistance, special aids and equipment and the increased cost of transport/travelling.

Where the injuries suffered are catastrophic (eg, major spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis, severe brain injury causing incapacity, bilateral limb amputation), the injured person will be admitted as a permanent participant in the Lifetime Care and Support scheme. This scheme provides the catastrophically injured person with lifetime care, including all domestic assistance, aids and equipment such as wheelchairs, modified transport and housing. Lifetime Care and Support is a non-fault scheme. In other words, the participant does not have to prove that his or her catastrophic injuries were caused by the negligence of the driver of a motor vehicle, motorcycle, truck or any public transport vehicle or conveyance.

Where a family member had died as a result of an accident involving a public transport vehicle or conveyance, caused by the negligence of the driver of the public transport vehicle, or if the transport accident was caused by the negligent driving of another vehicle, the family members who are financially and/or personally dependent on the deceased will be paid compensation for the loss of that dependency. Such claims are called Compensation to Relatives actions.

In cases where the physical or mental injuries are relatively minor or modest claimants can have their medical expenses paid and also receive a percentage of their lost earnings for a closed period of time, regardless of who was at fault for the accident.

In cases involving more serious injuries, and where liability can be established by the driver or operator of a public transport vehicle or conveyance, injured persons may be entitled to receive Common Law damages. Common Law damages claims include compensation for pain and suffering, past and future loss of wages and income, including loss of working and earning capacity. This compensation is paid by a single once and for all tax-free lump sum.

If the accident victim was partly to blame for the accident the Common Law damages will be reduced by the percentage of the accident victim’s contribution to the accident. The same applies if a person who dies as a result of a public transport accident was partially at fault.

A prerequisite for an accident victim to receive compensation for pain and suffering is that the accident victim’s whole person impairment must be agreed to be, or formally assessed to be, greater than 10%.

The current maximum amount an accident victim can recover for pain and suffering is $605,000. This sum increases on 1 October each year.

In a compensation to relatives claim arising from death caused by or involving a public transport vehicle, damages can be paid relatively quickly upon proof of financial and personal dependency on the deceased person. It is in effect a number-crunching exercise.

However, in cases involving personal injury, including mental/psychiatric injury, it is unwise for claims to be finalised before the injured person’s long-term future affected by the injuries can be reasonably accurately assessed. Some injuries, particularly serious orthopaedic injuries, can take a significant amount of time to sufficiently stabilise to make a reasonable calculation of the injured person’s future circumstances and losses.

In public transport injury claims involving children who have suffered serious brain injury it is sensible to wait until to child has reached adulthood before finalising such claims to see how the injury impacts on the child’s level of dependence and working and earning capacity.

Most compensation claims arising from public transport accidents (as is the case with accidents involving non-public transport vehicles) are settled following negotiations between the claimant’s lawyer and the representative for the insurance company on risk. Very few cases proceed to a court hearing. This generally only happens if there is a significant dispute on liability, ie who caused the accident, on quantum ie the seriousness of the injuries, or if the insurer makes an allegation that a claim is fraudulent.

The vast majority of settlements do not require any court approval. However, cases involving minors and claimants who have suffered such serious brain injury as to rob them of the capacity to understand the nature of their claim and the compensation to which they are entitled and/or to give instructions to their lawyers, must be approved by a District Court judge. In such cases the compensation claimed includes a claim for the cost of the compensation being managed by a professional funds manager. The appointment of a funds manager involves a separate application to the Supreme Court.