Yoo v Poulos

[2012] NSWDC 21

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	Yoo v Poulos [2012] NSWDC 21
Hearing dates:	13/03/2012 and 14/03/2012
Decision date:	15 March 2012
Jurisdiction:	Civil
Before:	Elkaim SC DCJ
Decision:	Judgment for the defendant
Catchwords:	Personal injury, pedestrian accident.
Legislation Cited:	Motor Accident Compensation Act 1999
Cases Cited:	Container Terminals Australia Ltd v Huseyin [2008] NSWCA 320 Knight v Maclean [2002] NSWCA 314 Mason v Demasi [2009] NSWCA 227
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	Wie Kyung Yoo (Plaintiff) Ellis John Poulos (Defendant)
Representation:	J Reimer (Plaintiff) J Ryan (Defendant) Brydens Law Office (Plaintiff) QBE CTP Legal Unit (Defendant)
File Number(s):	2011/00198143
Publication restriction:	No

Judgment

1. The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident on 30 March 2009. She was a pedestrian attempting to cross Barker Street in Kensington. She had parked on this street and was visiting her daughter who was then a student at the University of NSW, which is on the other side of Barker Street.

1. The plaintiff seeks damages arising from the injuries she says were caused by the negligence of the defendant. The defendant denies negligence and, in the alternative, alleges there was contributory negligence.

1. The action is governed by the Motor Accident Compensation Act 1999 (the "MACA"). The plaintiff does not qualify for non-economic loss under Section 131 of this Act. The heads of damages for which she seeks compensation are past and future economic loss, past and future medical expenses and past and future domestic care.

1. The plaintiff's background is set out in the chronology (Exhibit A). As at the date of the accident she was a participant in a family business involving the manufacture, wholesaling and sale of shoes. The plaintiff was a director of the company that ran the business.

1. In 2009 there were outlets at Bankstown, Campsie and in The Haymarket. There was a factory and warehouse in Granville. The plaintiff, in 2009, seems to have been mainly concerned with the store in Bankstown and with the company's paperwork. The Bankstown store closed in 2011.

The accident

1. The overall scene can be discerned from Exhibits B, C and 1. Barker Street runs in an east-west direction and slopes markedly downward travelling in a westerly direction. There is apparently now a pedestrian crossing opposite the entrance to the University but it is accepted that this did not exist in March 2009.

1. The accident occurred just before noon on a fine but windy day.

1. The plaintiff said she parked her four-wheel drive Toyota Prado in approximately the position marked with an "X" in Exhibit 1. She then walked in a westerly direction to the western side of Willis Lane. This was to be the starting point for her journey across Barker Street. She said that there was a vehicle parked to her left but not to her right. Willis Lane was to her right.

1. She moved forward apparently to about the drivers' side line of the parked vehicles. She then leaned forward so that her back was at an angle…