Wilson v McLeay [1961] HCA 56

High Court of Australia Taylor J. Wilson v McLeay [1961] HCA 56

ORDER Judgment for the plaintiff for £7,212 9s. 0d. with costs.

Cur. adv. vult.

Taylor J. delivered the following written judgment:—

Sept. 15 Taylor J

The plaintiff, who is a young woman nearly twenty-two years of age, sues the defendants in this Court for damages for personal injuries which she sustained whilst she was a passenger in a motor car of which the first-named defendant was the registered owner and which the second-named defendant was driving at the time of the accident. The plaintiff is a resident of the State of Queensland and the two defendants are residents of the State of New South Wales. Liability is admitted and the only issue is that of damages.

The accident happened whilst the plaintiff was holidaying in Sydney and her injuries were sustained when the motor car in which she was travelling collided with an electric light pole in Military Road, Neutral Bay. This was on 18th April 1960. She was thrown through the windscreen and seriously injured. The injuries which she suffered were extensive lacerations to the face including a laceration running for six inches across her forehead to the left eye, one about an inch long extending to the left eye and another which involved the left eyelid. There were also a number of abrasions and incisions mainly on the left side of the face and chin. Additionally, she sustained a comminuted oblique fracture of the lower third of the left humerus and a fracture of the right femur. She also had comparatively minor injuries to the left foot. After the accident she was taken to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital at North Sydney where she remained until 15th July 1960. On the latter date she was discharged and taken home to Queensland by her mother who had come to Sydney for that purpose.