Motor Accident Commission v Dinh

The Motor Accident Commission (the plaintiff) sought to recover moneys paid to Mr Quici for injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle collision from the defendant, who was the insured driver. The plaintiff's claim was based on section 124A of the Motor Vehicles Act, which allows an insurer to recover payments made in respect of a liability if the insured person contravened a term of the policy, specifically by driving with the intention of causing injury or with reckless indifference to causing injury. The dispute before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia concerned whether the defendant had driven her vehicle with reckless indifference to causing injury to Mr Quici.

The legal issue before the Full Court was whether the trial judge had correctly applied the test for "reckless indifference" as it pertains to the statutory policy of insurance under section 124A of the Motor Vehicles Act. The plaintiff contended that the defendant drove her vehicle with the intention of causing bodily injury to Mr Quici, or alternatively, with reckless indifference to whether such injury would result. The trial judge had rejected the claim of intentional driving, and the appeal focused on the finding that the defendant had not driven with reckless indifference.

The Full Court, in allowing the appeal, clarified that the test for reckless indifference should be interpreted in accordance with the approach of Diplock LJ, as applied in Australian cases such as *Legal and General Insurance v Eather* and *State Government Insurance Commission v Lane*. This test requires the insured person to have had an actual recognition that a danger existed and to have not cared whether or not that danger was averted. The Court found that the trial judge had erred by articulating a different test and by importing objective considerations into the assessment of reckless indifference. Consequently, the Court determined that the appeal should be dismissed, as the plaintiff did not ultimately seek any recovery from the defendant.