In light of a recent thread, and apropos of random browsing on the riotact leading to skimming through the ACT Magistrates’ Court decisions, I came across this case:
Dixon v Middleby-Clements | A.C.T Magistrates Court
In it, a magistrate examines whether a driver was 1) negligent and 2) caused GBH when she hit a cyclist. The magistrate examined some of the ACT specific case law and legislation. Worth a read if you want to learn more about this sort of thing.
Some choice paragraphs:
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On 11 March 2009 the cyclist, who at the time was 37, was riding his bicycle home from his work at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He was travelling in a northerly direction in the left hand lane of Limestone Avenue in Reid. He was wearing a high visibility top and a bright yellow bike helmet. The weather was fine. Limestone Avenue in this area runs predominantly north/south. It has two lanes in each direction, separated by a raised grass median. The south bound lanes are raised above the north bound lanes. The speed limit is 60 kilometres an hour.
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This is not an accident for which there is no explanation. One does not have to speculate about what occurred. The explanation given by the defendant to the cyclist at the time – “I’m so sorry I didn’t see you” – is the reason for the collision. Quite simply the defendant did not keep a proper lookout. She was at a stop sign, and the cyclist travelling towards her was wearing high visibility clothing. There is no suggestion that the defendant’s view was obstructed and the cyclist must have been considerably ahead of any other traffic coming towards the defendant as there is no suggestion from any witness that other cars travelling behind the cyclist had to brake suddenly to avoid the Barina. This failure to keep a proper lookout for oncoming traffic was compounded by the defendant driving a car with which she was not very familiar and which, therefore required her to use even more caution before she attempted to move across a break in peak hour traffic.
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