| BIKE LAW TALK | |
| Just for
a change, here's an actual case which doesn't involve
motor cycles. Alex, accompanied by his wife, had just left home in his 20 year old V8 Fairmont. In very good condition, it was his pride and joy. It was dark and he had to turn right into the Pacific Highway 500 metres away. As he committed for the turn , his engine coughed and then stalled. Alex tried desperately to restart without success as he watched a car coming down the road on collision course. Despite the Falcon's headlights, and street lights, the other car never slowed and collided with Alex's car, writing it off and injuring Alex. He only had third party property and formally filled a claim form and the insurer paid the damage to the other car! He came to see me about his injuries and I advised him that, as there was no negligence by him, the accident was the other driver's fault. The other driver disagreed vigorously and a court case ensued for the value of Alex's car, which Alex won. Similarly, Alex made a third party claim under the other car's greenslip (different insurer) for his disabilities and won that too and successfully denied the alleged contributory negligence. That shows you that sometimes things are not what they seem! My question - why did the insurer pay the other car's damage? They told me they didn't know! It's hard enough to get any insurer to pay money when it is due! Ride safe, see you on the winding road! Mark Stenberg Mark's Hot Tip of the Month. Two very useful instruments on a bike are a clock and a thermometer. Combined units are available at K Mart, Tandy & Dick Smiths for about $18 - just cut off the wire for 'outside temperature'. |
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in a good cause... . |
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| Since the last issue
of Riding On, Ulyssians in a number of Groups and
Branches have dug into their pockets or worked hard to
put on events in aid of or favoured good cause, the
Arthritis Foundation. Among these are: The Central Highlands Group in Victoria who sent in a cheque for $80. The Orange Group who collected $281 from a re-enactment of a Bushranger hold up at their campout recently. Bill Seers says 'there's more to come' - Great! The South Coast Branch held a raffle at a Sausage Sizzle near Gerringong in October and raised $241; The Goulburn Valley's 'Backward Odyssey' added $505 to the cause and again, according to 'The Revered' John Painter, there is more to come; The Central Coast Group kindly invited yours truly to speak at their October meeting and collected $200 towards their target of $500; The Nepean Branch raffled an 'Instant Bar' and will be presenting the local Branch of the Arthritis Foundation with approximately $830 at their November meeting; The Wagga Wagga Branch presented $500 to the secretary of the local branch of the AFA in October and got some good publicity in the local paper, some of which is shown in the next column; The Cairns Branch have agreed to allocate $2 from each Branch membership, and this has reached about $100 so far. And last but not least; The Sydney Branch ran a raffle at their November meeting and came good with the magnificent sum of $649 in a matter of a couple of hours. So there we are: my thanks and congratulations all round and best wishes to those Groups and Branches who are yet to put on their event for the Arthritis Foundation. If every one of the 50 Ulysses Groups and Branches could put on just one fund raising function each year, it would make a most impressive contribution to a very worthwhile cause. Incidentally, in the case of donations that are not presented to a local branch of the AFA, please make out the cheques to the Arthritis Foundation and send them to me C/- PO Box 95, Newport NSW 2106. If you would like to make contact with someone locally from the Arthritis Foundation, please let me know. Keep well, ride safely, enjoy life. Stephen Dearnley member No. 1 |
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