Rootes v Shelton

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal in *Rootes v Shelton*. The appellant, Rootes, was the owner of a motor vehicle and the respondent, Shelton, was a passenger in that vehicle. The dispute arose from injuries sustained by Shelton when the vehicle, driven by Rootes, collided with a power pole. Shelton alleged that Rootes had driven negligently, causing the accident and his injuries.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether Shelton, as a passenger, had voluntarily assumed the risk of injury arising from Rootes' alleged negligence. This involved considering the nature of voluntary assumption of risk in Australian law and the circumstances under which a passenger might be deemed to have accepted such a risk.

The Court held that for a plaintiff to voluntarily assume the risk of injury, they must have had full knowledge of the nature and extent of the risk and have voluntarily accepted that risk. In this instance, the Court found that Shelton, as a passenger, had not been aware of the specific risk of the driver's negligence in the manner it occurred, nor had he voluntarily accepted such a risk. Therefore, the defence of voluntary assumption of risk was not made out. The appeal was dismissed.