Bathurst City Council v Weal

Bathurst City Council (the Council) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had found the Council liable for damages suffered by Mr. Weal. Mr. Weal had sustained injuries when he fell from a bicycle on a road maintained by the Council. The dispute concerned whether the Council had breached its duty of care to Mr. Weal by failing to maintain the road in a safe condition.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Council owed a duty of care to Mr. Weal in relation to the condition of the road, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether the Council had acted reasonably in the circumstances in its maintenance of the road, and whether the risk of injury to cyclists was foreseeable and of such a kind that it ought to have been taken to have been reasonably practicable to guard against.

McHugh and Kirby JJ, in their joint judgment, affirmed that a road authority owes a duty of care to road users to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable risks of injury. They found that the Council had been aware of the dangerous condition of the road for a significant period, and that the risk of a cyclist falling and sustaining injury was foreseeable. The Court held that the Council had failed to take reasonable steps to address the hazard, and therefore had breached its duty of care. The appeal was dismissed.