Bland v Baxter & Anor [1992] QSC 19

( ( TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS State Reporting Bureau, 4th Floor, The Law Courts, George Street, . BRISBANE. 0. 4000 Tel. (07) 227.4360 (Copyright in this transcript is vested in the Crown. Copies thereof must not be made or sold without the written authority of the Director. State Reporting Bureau.) ·-~--.~--····" .... -.---..... -- _._ .. __ _ ~ r-:~:·.J;:;iw:_:~·· ·~('~--~~: · ...... ·:· <···:'~ ~ ' .t (;r.'~.:, : .. ·;::"":::·' (. ':·: ·· .. ····.:.-:~..: : : .. 71"'jQ""\, i ~ L-'~~:e: ex,.. I CI..J l '-·- ·-·- ............... _ ... .._ __ ......... ___ _.__... SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND CHAMBERS WHITE, Master No 4654 of 1986. RONALD CHARLES BLAND Plaintiff (by his next friend) VIDA MAY SIMPSON and PERRY JAMES BAXTER First Defendant . and SCOTT BROWN Second Defendant .BRISBANE .. DATE 28/1/92 ORDER 1 -- 1 of 3 -- 280192 - ORDER MASTER: Having, cohsidered.the advices and having looked at the material which,is exhibited to Mr.O'Connor's affidavit with respe.ct to-. the .facts and. circumstances of the accident itself, it seffi~s to me - bearing in mind that the plaintiff :.. ' .. .. - . 10 was walking either down tlfe middle of the road or slightly 10 to one.side, the ~eft-hand side of the middle line of the .. ... . l ·. . . road shortly after midnight.and.having been warned of the on-coming· motor·vehicle and having chosen to remain in the . . . -~ middla of the road - the plaintiff may have had some real 20 difficulties in persuading a Court that he was not totally to b~ame. for what. occu:r::r.ed. I note that there is quite complex scientific evidence as to 0 sheet lighting and it is a little difficult to tell how that 30 .would come out under a cross-examination situation, but in 30 all of the circumstances it seems to me that an apportionment ~f. 60/40 per cent in favour 6f .the defendants is a,fair and reasonable basis. U,pon which to look at the figures which have (', 1 --._/ been put forward~ 40 40 The plai~;tiff' s past work record and educational record prior () to sustaining his injuries indicated that he was not a person who was.regularly .in employment and, indeed, had not been in employiilent '·for the ~2 months prior to sustaining his 50 50 injuries. He had performed poorly at school and appears to have had no trade skills. He was aged 18 at the time of the accident. 60 60 Govt. Printer, Old. 2 -- 2 of 3 -- 10 '20 ;. ~ 30 40 50 60 280192 ORDER Mr Reid of counsel who provided the advice to the Court and to the solicitor for the next friend has estimated that a possible component that .. ~ • .i.ght have been allowed should the matter have proceeded to : .rial for loss of future earning capacity was in the sum of $200,000~ My own view is that he 10 might have erred on the side of generosity to the plaintiff. Although, as he submi.ts, he did allow for some maturing on the part of the plaintiff as the years passed and, indeed, that might have been the approach that a Court would have taken. It seems to me a figure of about that amount would 20 probably be in the range of what might have been allowed by a Court, about $175,000 to $200,000. That seems an appropriate sum. In all of the circumstances, bearing in mind the matters which 30 have been raised in the advic8s, and to which I have referred and the Griffiths v. Kirkemeyer component, which really seems to be negligible notwithstanding the devoted work which the· plaintiff's mother performs for him at the nursing home, would 40 not attract an award commensurate with the hours that she puts in, since these seem to be services which would be :carried out by the nursing home for the plaintiff in any event and covered by the costs of the nursing homBI am prepared to sanction the agreement reached during the settlement week negotiations. I order as per draft. Govt. Printer, Qld. 3 -- 3 of 3 --