Court of Appeal considers negligence of children drivers - Zanner v Zanner [2010] NSWCA 343

Judgment date: 15 December 2010

Zanner v Zanner [2010] NSWCA 343

New South Wales Court of Appeal1

In Brief

An inexperienced or unlicensed driver still has a duty of care in controlling their vehicle. The scope of an inexperienced or unlicensed driver's duty of care will depend on the degree of their experience and the degree of care one would objectively expect of a driver of a similar age. A trial judge's finding of contributory negligence will only be disturbed on appeal where the previous finding was unreasonable or unjust. Contributory negligence should only be found to exceed 90% in rare cases where the risk created by the defendant is patently obvious and could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care on the plaintiff's part. Background

The claimant sustained serious injuries in a motor accident on 18 August 2006 as she was directing her 11-year old son who was parking a vehicle at her home. The son's foot slipped onto the accelerator causing the vehicle to collide with her. The son had some limited experience parking a different car, having done so with his father on 5 or 6 prior occasions.

The insurer denied liability upon the grounds that, due to his inexperience as a driver, the son did not owe any duty of care to the claimant; if there was a duty of care its scope or content was so limited that there was no breach; if there was a breach it was not the cause...