ASRA - Australian Skateboard Racing Association

Car / skateboard crash - driver claiming damages (NSW)

Hi!
There seems to be a decent knowledge base on the forums about skateboarding and the law, so I thought Id ask a question that is worrying me.

I was riding my longboard to work one day and had an accident with a car. I was coming down a hill, towards a roundabout. I left space to run it out if needed, nothing was coming on the right, and the cars on the left were slowing. It looked like they were going to give way (as they should do for a vehicle or rider in my position) so I kept heading through. Turns out the guy hadnt even seen me til I was in the process of denting his bonnet. I was mildly injured but my employer insisted workcover would cover my injury treatment since I was on the way to work. So I kind of forgot about it until I get a claim against me in the mail 2 months later, for damages to his car.

If I was considered a vehicle or a rider, then I would have had right of way in the situation and the guy who hit me would be in trouble. However if I was a pedestrian, he would also be in trouble supposedly because you have to give way to pedestrians if there is risk of collision. The senior constable at the local copshop didnt know whether I was liable on a skateboard, he could only tell me with certainty that it is illegal to skate on the road. And yes unfortunately the road did have a dividing line (50km/hr speed limit).

Can anyone tell me thei thoughts on liability in this situation. My car is insured and I have business insurance (Public Liability) however both appear to have clauses that seem to exclude this situation (ie car insurance only covers liability by my vehicle or 'a substitute motor vehicle' which obviously doesnt include a skateboard. And the business insurance suggests liability is not covered when participating in sports.) I am seeking legal aid, and feeling pretty worried.

Any help would be appreciated!

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It has been sometime since I had to deal with it, but back then, Workers comp usually paid for injury of an employee travelling to or from work when the other "transport" insurances are not able to be claimed against, ie Compulsory Third Party motor vehicle insurance (if you are the driver and technically can't claim against yourself, or the cover is not "no-fault" injury cover), but this can be different in each state, and for each policy. In Victoria we had to take out a special accident cover for building workers who walked to work, and the events giving rise to a claim were really obscure (bump on head from low hanging branch etc). If the WC insurer knew that there was car involved, they might be inclined to pursue the driver of the car for the cost that they paid in relation to your injury, unless the insurer for the car is the same as for Workers Comp (GIO does both).

On the driver that did not see you, I would ask the question of your legal aide magistrate, if it is not too late for you (as a private citizen) to bring dangerous driving charges against the driver, for failing to give way, and whatever else applies. Getting the driver convicted in a court for a dangerous driving offence will be a big help in fighting the insurer. Of course this will open up new questions at law, and could establish legal precedents or law changes that none of us really want.

Good luck with the outcome of this

For the rest of you....stop skating with cars!
good luck with it man. i got hit by a car going across an intersection and snapped both me bones in my leg and have been out for 6 weeks already and still got another 6 to go. i didnt get any compensation either for my gear, broken deck, bent cnc's, and they cut my pads off. definately not gonna let it happen again in a hurry haha.
i didnt read all the other posts for this topic so please tell me if ive repeated something ,

i was under the ussumption that it is legal forr a skateboard to be on a road with dividing lines and the 50km speed limit ONLY IF
you were going from one foot path to the other and were only crossing the road to get to the other footpath. If you can convince the magistrate/judge that this was the case ( so maybeye you swerved a little as you were crossing , to get out of the way of the car of course ) , you can instruct your duty solicitor to mention this to the judge along with the supporting written out law for crossing the road , all goes well you can actually use some laws to suport your claim ,
I'm pretty sure they don't use precedence in a small claims court (someone correct me if I'm wrong) But I doubt the insurance company would have taken it that far anyway. For quantum under $1000 they usually won't bother pursuing.

Camden said:
Im sorry that I am bumping this thread but has there been any update or outcome? I figure this could essentially create precedent and is quite a useful thing to know.
I have worked in liabilty for two insurance companies, one under suncorp the other under iag (the two major players in insurance in Australia) and both have had the attitude that the type of vehicle is irrelevant. Liability is determined based on the actions of each vehicle.

I have not worked for GIO, but it falls under suncorp, so chances are they will make similar calls. Whilst the individual consultant may have tried to bluff their way to a recovery, this probably wouldn't be backed up if the issue was elevated. Only the op can let us know the outcome for sure though.

Camden said:
For sure Im just interested to understand who really is at fault. Though you probably are right its unlikely they would in fact proceed.
quickly turning the subject around: what if you are at fault, and damage a car / property / person. Is there a third party insurance that can cover this type of wheeled-toy (ha ha) incident?

Thanks
Most home contents policies will cover damage caused whilst using an item from your home, ie skateboards bikes etc. To be sure, you can call your insurer and ask.

Ben Wah said:
quickly turning the subject around: what if you are at fault, and damage a car / property / person. Is there a third party insurance that can cover this type of wheeled-toy (ha ha) incident?

Thanks
Thanks that's what I thought... I don't have home contents insurance. I might ask if there's like a "sport" insurance or something similar but I doubt that it exists. I will check on the home contents insurance too, I have no idea how much that would cost either.
The insurance company still havent got back to me ever since they acknowledged my dispute letter and said they were evaluating the case. I think theyve dropped it, touch wood.
Did you get any advice on if you can bring charges against the driver?
Hi Dudes,

I need some more advice!

I moved houses, heard nothing about the accident, then one day I got a phone call from Recoveries Corp!! First I have heard in months. The damage bill is 1603.57, they want it paid in 7 days. The matter is no longer in GIOs hands. How do I take this to court now? Is it to late since it is in the hands of the debt collectors? According to legal aid advice the most I would pay for court costs would be 600 (excepting lawyer fees - I suspect I am a bit over the threshold for legal aid).

The case would be on the fact that I have the damage report now finally and it says they replaced the front bumper among numerous other things so clearly he hit me from the front so regardless of whether you class a skater as a pedestrian or vehicle, he should be liable, right? And on top of that, I was 12 to 15 metres into the roundabout at the point of impact so if you class a skater as a vehicle he is still liable.

The issue is, does my reckless skating on the road suggest I am liable? Its such a bastard grey area. Is it worth taking to court?

Some advice and moral support would be much appreciated, I am pretty worried. Didnt think the damages would be more than 1000, considerin how little I was injured but I guess I suppose I put a decent dent in the wankers lancer.
and where can skaters get liability insurance to cover this shit? And surfers. It seems so easy to get in this situation. What happens if a porsche pulls out from behind a hedge when your skating down the pavement? In debt for a long time from that! Its scary. I have only been skating parks since it happened. Rattled.

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