Rankin v Gosford City Council

[2015] NSWCA 249

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Liability for acts of third parties
4. › Road authority
5. › Whether road authority owed duty to protect road users from criminal conduct of third parties who moved traffic barriers
6. › Whether special relationship existed between road authority and road user sufficient to impose duty to control third parties
7. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 5B
1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Foreseeability
4. › Criminal conduct of third parties
5. › Whether it was reasonably foreseeable that plastic barriers could be moved by malefactors to obstruct roadway
6. › Whether risk was not insignificant
7. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 5B(1)(a), (b)
1. Negligence
2. › Breach of duty
3. › Standard of care
4. › Industry practice
5. › Whether evidence of industry practice requiring concrete barriers in remote locations established breach
6. › Weight to be given to expert evidence of industry practice
7. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), ss 5B, 5C
1. Negligence
2. › Roads authorities
3. › Scope of Brodie duty
4. › Whether general duty of road authority to maintain roads extended to preventing third parties from using road work items to create hazards
5. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), Pt 5, s 45

Quick Take

A road authority does not owe a duty of care to road users to prevent third parties from moving traffic barriers to create road hazards, because the road authority-road user relationship is not a 'special relationship' involving control over the third party. Refrigerated Roadways is confined to cases where the type of harm could arise without criminal conduct. Evidence of 'industry practice' from an expert with limited familiarity with the industry and no evidence of prior incidents may properly be given no weight.