Stacks Law Firm Logo
Menu
Home › Which case won? › Could a police officer claim damages for psychiatric injury after attending a fatal accident? Which case won?

Which case won?

Could a police officer claim damages for psychiatric injury after attending a fatal accident? Which case won?
27 Mar | Which Case Won

Could a police officer claim damages for psychiatric injury after attending a fatal accident? Which case won?

by Chris Clarke, Murwillumbah

The Facts

Police officer attends motor vehicle accident

A Queensland police officer attended a motor vehicle accident in 2013 involving a car driver who was speeding and intoxicated with amphetamines and cannabis at the time of the collision.

The policeman attended the scene and tried to keep the driver alive with first aid and encouragement. He was the first officer on the scene, having arrived earlier than the ambulance paramedics and the fire brigade.

The police officer had to deal with the arrival of the driver’s parents at the scene of the accident and had to indicate to them that their son would not survive. The driver’s parents had to say goodbye to him at the accident scene.

The fact of having to deal with the driver’s parents added an extra level of trauma for the policeman, over and above the trauma of dealing with the driver’s injuries, which proved to be fatal.

Policeman develops PTSD and makes claim for damages

The police officer developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of what he witnessed at the motor vehicle accident scene. He made a claim under Queensland’s Motor Accident Insurance Act for psychiatric injuries that he sustained while dealing with the horrific circumstances of the accident and the parents of the driver.

The insurer denied liability for the claim and the matter proceeded for determination before the Queensland Supreme Court.

casea
The case for the insurer
  • The police officer claims that our insured, the deceased driver, was negligent and that this negligence caused him psychiatric injuries. For the claim to succeed, the officer needs to establish that the driver owed him a duty of care.
  • A police officer is bound by duty to attend at the scene of a motor accident and members of the public are entitled to expect that a police officer attending an accident will be sufficiently trained and experienced to avoid psychiatric harm.
  • For these reasons, the policeman’s psychiatric injury was not reasonably foreseeable by the driver, so no duty of care on the part of the driver arises
  • Alternatively, any such foreseeable risk was slight and did not warrant the driver taking or avoiding any action for that reason.
  • The police officer was a mere bystander at the scene of the accident and only witnessed its aftermath. He did not witness the accident itself, nor was he personally involved in the events leading up to it, so he had no reason to blame himself for the events that took place.
  • Additionally, the police officer and the driver had no pre-existing relationship and were strangers to one another, so the officer had no particular connection to the driver.
  • The police officer cannot establish that the driver owed him a duty of care and his claim should therefore fail.
caseb
The case for the police officer
  • It was reasonably foreseeable that any police officer who attended the scene of the car accident caused by the driver’s negligence would suffer a psychiatric injury.
  • I was not a mere “bystander” to the driver’s death. I comforted him, I tried to comfort his parents and I assisted them to say a final farewell to their son. Then I watched him die.
  • I did everything I could to keep the driver alive – I cleared his airway, encouraged him and alerted the firefighters not to cut him from his vehicle until the paramedics arrived, to reduce the risk of a heart attack. My role was that of a “rescuer”.
  • Even though as a police officer I was trained in employing techniques of emotional detachment to guard against psychiatric harm at scenes of trauma, my “armour” of detachment was pierced by the intense humanity of the situation.
  • It is unclear to me what I could have done differently or more safely to protect myself against psychiatric harm, given that I was in a highly pressurised situation at the scene of an emergency.
  • The driver owed me a duty of care and I should be compensated for the injuries that his negligence has caused me to suffer.

So, which case won?

Cast your judgment below to find out
Case A Case B

Case B won. You were right!

How people voted
a46%
b54%

Expert commentary on the court's decision

Chris ClarkeLawyer
“The court found that the fact a police officer is bound by duty to pursue a speeding driver or to attend at the scene of an accident caused by a driver’s negligence does not absolve the driver of a duty to the police officer.”
Queensland Supreme Court finds in favour of police officer

In the case Caffrey v AAI Limited [2019] QSC 7, the Queensland Supreme Court ruled in favour of the policeman, Mr David Caffrey, against the CTP insurer, AAI Limited. Accordingly, the insurer was liable to pay compensatory damages.

The lengthy judgment referred to numerous cases concerning psychiatric injury, traversing elements of foreseeability, direct perception, the status of the driver as both the defendant and the sole victim and the role of Mr Caffrey as a rescuer, as well as examining policy considerations.

Obligations of police officers and elevated risk of psychiatric harm

The judge stated that a member of the public, such as the driver in this case, is not entitled to drive in any manner he wishes, without having regard to police officers who may attend at an accident he may cause, simply because police officers have undertaken to attend at such scenes for the benefit of the public as part of their job.

The court found that the fact a police officer is bound by duty to pursue a speeding driver, or to attend at the scene of an accident caused by a driver’s negligence, does not absolve the driver of a duty to the police officer. In the view of the court, the fact that the police officer has no choice, because he or she is legally obliged to respond to emergencies, actually places the officer in a situation of “elevated risk” of psychiatric harm.

The judge went on to accept that a duty of care towards Mr Caffrey did exist.

Psychiatric reports tendered as medical evidence

Four psychiatrist reports were tendered into evidence. A joint expert report was also provided and the doctors gave concurrent evidence.

The summary of the medical evidence was that Mr Caffrey had a pre-existing vulnerability to suffering a psychiatric injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, he did not meet the diagnostic criteria for a specific personality or other psychiatric disorder prior to the motor vehicle accident on 17 February 2013.

Could the psychiatric injury be attributed to other events?

Commonly, in these types of cases, there would be an argument from the defendant that because the injured person was a police officer, there would be some causation for the psychiatric injury attributed to other events witnessed or experienced during the course of employment as a police officer.

The task for the court was to assess the degree of probability that Mr Caffrey would have developed PTSD in any case and adjust damages to reflect that degree of probability.

As a result of this and despite the common law position that the defendant is to “take the plaintiff as they find them”, there was a discount of 30% in damages on the basis that there was a possibility that Mr Caffrey would have succumbed to a psychiatric injury in any event. Ultimately, he was awarded $1,092,947.88.

Police officers who are injured responding to motor vehicle accidents in NSW

The case is consistent with a similar NSW case in Wicks v State Rail Authority of New South Wales [2010] HCA 22. Police officers who are injured responding to motor vehicle accidents in NSW should submit a NSW Motor Accidents Compensation Act claim form, in addition to making a statutory NSW workers compensation claim.

If the attendance at the accident occurs on or after 1 December 2017, the police officer should submit a claim form for statutory benefits under the NSW Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017. This allows for a claim to be made for statutory benefits under the NSW motor accidents legislation, in the event that the workers compensation claim for statutory benefits is denied.

The service of the claim form also alerts the insurer to the possibility of making a claim for damages on or after 20 months from the date of the accident.

NOTICE: This article is accurate as at the time of publication and does not constitute legal advice. Please see our legal notices page for more information.
Send case to a friend Get in touch with an expert Send me more cases
Have your say

Other cases

If a worker refuses biometric fingerprint scanning, is it unfair dismissal to sack them? Which case won?
06 Dec 2019

If a worker refuses biometric fingerprint scanning, is it unfair dismissal to sack them? Which case won?

A company introduced a biometric fingerprint scanning system as part of its new site
Read More
Was the employee who failed to follow her employer’s instructions to blame for her own injuries? Which case won?
26 Nov 2019

Was the employee who failed to follow her employer’s instructions to blame for her own injuries? Which case won?

In 1974 a woman secured an office job in a large Australian organisation. Her duties
Read More
Was it unfair dismissal to sack an employee for breaching the company’s social media policy? Which case won?
12 Nov 2019

Was it unfair dismissal to sack an employee for breaching the company’s social media policy? Which case won?

A man had been employed by a company for about fifteen months when he was dismissed for an
Read More
Was the email defamatory? Which case won?
29 Oct 2019

Was the email defamatory? Which case won?

The chairperson of the strata committee and the tenant lived in the same strata building.
Read More
Is it OK if you’re just a bit late applying to set aside a statutory demand? Which case won?
15 Oct 2019

Is it OK if you’re just a bit late applying to set aside a statutory demand? Which case won?

In late June 2017, a government department (the ‘creditor’) instructed a process
Read More
Was the victim of a phishing scam liable for his losses? Which case won?
02 Oct 2019

Was the victim of a phishing scam liable for his losses? Which case won?

The case of a man who fell victim to a phishing scam reads as a textbook example of cyber
Read More
Should the defendant go to jail for drug supply? Which case won?
16 Sep 2019

Should the defendant go to jail for drug supply? Which case won?

In June 2015, a young man was apprehended by police and found to be in possession of a
Read More
Was the doctor negligent for failing to identify meningitis symptoms? Which case won?
03 Sep 2019

Was the doctor negligent for failing to identify meningitis symptoms? Which case won?

In early September 2008, a woman, who was then 43, began suffering from neck pain and
Read More
Was the police officer’s PTSD a total and permanent disability or was the insurer right to reject her claim? Which case won?
20 Aug 2019

Was the police officer’s PTSD a total and permanent disability or was the insurer right to reject her claim? Which case won?

A police officer worked for NSW Police and was involved in a number of traumatic events
Read More
Could the property seller issue a Notice to Complete, terminate the contract and keep the 10% deposit? Which case won?
06 Aug 2019

Could the property seller issue a Notice to Complete, terminate the contract and keep the 10% deposit? Which case won?

On 23 October 2014, two companies entered into a standard NSW contract for the sale of
Read More
Was the hospital to blame for the patient’s infection after surgery? Which case won?
19 Jul 2019

Was the hospital to blame for the patient’s infection after surgery? Which case won?

On 7 June 2010, a woman attended a hospital for the repair of an incisional hernia that
Read More
Should a permanently injured worker lose payments while waiting for assessment? Which case won?
01 Jul 2019

Should a permanently injured worker lose payments while waiting for assessment? Which case won?

The initial injury happened in December 2000, when the worker fell while pushing a
Read More
Get more cases
Find an office Find a lawyer Live chat

Fill out this form and one of our local law professionals will be in contact

By submitting this form you agree to the terms of our Privacy policy