Addie, Biff, Candice and Devi decided to visit Giddy Heights, a theme park. Unfortunately, Devi was ill on the day of trip and stayed at home. When the friends arrived at the theme park, Addie and Biff decided to try out the new rollercoaster, Darkest Lows, which had only opened the week before. As the pair were queuing up for the rollercoaster, Biff decided that he just wanted to watch Addie give the rollercoaster a go. While Addie was riding on the rollercoaster, Biff still stayed in the queuing area close to the track and video-called Devi so that he could see Addie riding on the rollercoaster. At that exact moment, the car containing Addie came off the track and plummeted to the ground. The rollercoaster cart landed 90 metres from a takeout hut, where Candice was drinking a cup of tea. Candice ran into the wreckage to help Addie. As Candice was pulling Addie to safety, a second cart left the track and landed nearby. 

Once Addie had been pulled away from the scene of the accident, Fran, the waitress at the takeout hut, put him into the 'recovery position', as he had been taught during first aid training. However, in doing so, she accidentally sprained Addie's wrist. It was later found that due to the negligence of Giddy Heights, the proper safety checks had not been carried out on the Darkest Lows rollercoaster. Addie did not suffer any physical injuries in the crash, although he has since been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of his experience. Candice, Devi and Fran have all been diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders as a result of what they witnessed.

 Questions   1. Explain: (a) What a claimant must establish to be a primary victim of psychiatric injury.           

(b) Whether Addie is a primary victim in a claim for negligence against Giddy Heights. 

2. Explain: (a) What must be established for a claimant to be a secondary victim of psychiatric injury?                                        

(b) Whether Devi is a secondary victim in a claim for negligence against Giddy Heights. 

3. Explain whether a claim for psychiatric injury against Giddy Heights can successfully be made by: 

(a) Candice         

(b) Fran 

4. Explain whether Fran's actions are likely to constitute a novus actus interveniens (new intervening act).       

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 a To be considered a primary victim of psychiatric View the full answer