The Court held that a truck driver breached his duty of care by failing to sound his horn when he observed a car approaching a give way line in an unusual manner with the driver's head facing away from his direction of approach, even though his response after the car moved off the give way line (immediate heavy braking, horn sounding, gear disengagement) was reasonable. Contributory negligence was assessed at 80% against the plaintiff who drove onto the highway without looking to her right, reducing agreed damages of $3,032,368 to $606,473.60. The Court confirmed that under s 5K CLA (WA), the capacity of a heavier vehicle to cause greater damage is not an independent consideration warranting a higher standard on the truck driver but should be understood from the perspective of both parties, and on the facts gave little weight to this factor given the plaintiff's gross negligence.
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