Australian woman eligible for compensation from driver after witnessing pedestrian being run over in car park
A Canberra woman who witnessed a pedestrian being run over in a car park is eligible for compensation from the driver, the ACT Supreme Court has found.
Key points:
- The woman saw a man struck by a car in Canberra in November 2016
- The court heard she was so shocked by the incident she got lost on the way home
- Justice John Burns found the driver was negligent in his duty of care to the woman as a bystander
Justice John Burns awarded the woman $176,000 for witnessing the accident in the underground car park of the Canberra Outlet Centre in Fyshwick in November 2016.
According to court documents, the woman had been getting into her car when she heard a scream for help.
She looked over to see a man's head and one of his arms protruding from under the vehicle, with his head very close to the wheel.
She ran to help, waving her arms to tell the driver to stop, and believed the man had been killed as he had stopped screaming.
Fortunately, the man (the real victim) was not badly injured.
"As a consequence of the first defendant's negligence, the plaintiff developed a recognised psychiatric illness, being PTSD."
Canberra woman eligible for compensation from driver after witnessing pedestrian being run over in car park - ABC News
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