Rankin v Gosford City Council

The appeal concerned a claim in negligence brought by the appellant, Mr. Rankin, against the respondent, Gosford City Council. Mr. Rankin suffered injuries when his motorcycle collided with plastic barriers that had been placed on the road by the Council as part of road works. Crucially, unidentified persons had moved these barriers so that they obstructed both traffic lanes, creating the hazard that led to Mr. Rankin's accident. The dispute centred on whether the Council owed Mr. Rankin a duty of care to protect him from the unlawful conduct of these third parties.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether it was reasonably foreseeable that the plastic barriers, used by the Council during road works, could be moved by third parties in a manner that would create a risk of injury to road users. The central legal question was whether the Council had breached a duty of care owed to Mr. Rankin by failing to take reasonable steps to prevent such an occurrence, or whether the risk of harm from the deliberate unlawful acts of third parties was too remote to impose liability on the Council.

The Court reasoned that while it was foreseeable that barriers might be moved, the specific scenario of them being repositioned to obstruct both lanes by unidentified persons was not a reasonably foreseeable risk that would give rise to a duty of care on the part of the Council. The Court distinguished the present case from *Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Refrigerated Roadways Pty Ltd*, finding that the nature of the risk and the intervening conduct of third parties were sufficiently different. The Court held that the Council had not breached its duty of care.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondent’s costs of the appeal.