Rauchle v The Nominal Defendant; the NSW Police Service v The Nominal Defendant

In *Rauchle v The Nominal Defendant; The NSW Police Service v The Nominal Defendant*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered appeals arising from two separate motor vehicle accident claims. The primary dispute involved the liability of the Nominal Defendant, an entity established to cover claims where the identity of the at-fault driver or owner of a vehicle cannot be ascertained. In the first matter, Mr Rauchle sought damages for injuries sustained when his vehicle was struck by an unidentified vehicle. In the second matter, the NSW Police Service sought to recover costs incurred in attending to the scene of an accident involving an unidentified vehicle.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Nominal Defendant was liable to indemnify the respective claimants and, in Mr Rauchle's case, whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the Nominal Defendant was liable. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the claimants had satisfied the statutory requirements for bringing a claim against the Nominal Defendant, particularly concerning the obligation to take all reasonable steps to identify the driver and owner of the unidentified vehicle.

The Court of Appeal, in allowing the appeal in Mr Rauchle's case and dismissing the appeal in the NSW Police Service's case, applied the principles of the *Motor Accidents Act 1988* (NSW). The court found that Mr Rauchle had not taken all reasonable steps to identify the driver and owner of the vehicle that caused his injuries, and therefore, his claim against the Nominal Defendant failed. Conversely, the court held that the NSW Police Service had also failed to demonstrate that they had taken all reasonable steps to identify the relevant parties, meaning their claim against the Nominal Defendant was also unsuccessful. The court emphasised the strictness of the statutory requirements for claims against the Nominal Defendant, particularly the onus on the claimant to prove that all reasonable steps to identify the offending vehicle and its driver have been taken.