Hamshere v Favelle

[2009] NSWCA 4

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Standard of care
4. › Motor vehicles
5. › Opening car door into traffic lane
6. › Whether foreseeable risk of sufficient magnitude to require different conduct
7. › Whether reasonable person would have expected vehicle to pass within 20 centimetres of parked car
1. Negligence
2. › Causation
3. › Intervening conduct of plaintiff
4. › Loss of control of motorcycle due to excessive speed and inexperience
5. › Whether plaintiff's conduct broke chain of causation
1. Appeal
2. › Standard of appellate review
3. › Findings of fact by trial judge
4. › Whether finding of loss of control was open on the evidence

Quick Take

A motorist who opens a car door 20 centimetres after looking for oncoming traffic is not negligent where the risk that a vehicle would pass so close as to be endangered by a door open to that limited extent is not a foreseeable risk of sufficient magnitude. The case confirms that the negligence inquiry focuses on whether the defendant acted in accordance with reasonable care, not whether different conduct would have produced a different result.