Who is responsible?

Sometimes more than one driver may be at fault. This is called 'contributory negligence'. If both drivers are at fault in some way, the cost of the repairs should be shared between the drivers. 

The amount each driver is at fault may not be equal. For example, if the case goes to court a magistrate may decide that one driver is 60% responsible and another 40%. They will then divide up the cost of the damages.

If another driver makes a claim against you and you think that you are both at fault, you should notify the other driver (or their insurance company) that you think there is contributory negligence. 

For more information, see Responding to a claim.

After an accident, you or one of the other drivers may be given a fine (also known as a ticket, penalty notice or infringement notice) or may be charged with a driving offence.

If this happens to you, it does not automatically mean that you are at fault, but you need to work out what it means for your case. You should get legal advice.

For more information about dealing with the fine, see Fines.

A blameless accident is an accident that is clearly out of the driver's control, so the driver is not at fault. Examples of blameless accidents may include accidents caused by: 

• ​a driver's sudden illness, for example, heart attack or stroke
• an unavoidable collision caused by an animal running across the road.

If you believe you were involved in a blameless accident, you should get legal advice​.

If you have an accident involving an animal, you may be able to make a claim against the owner of the animal. For more information, see the tab "Accidents involving animals​" below.

If you are driving for work and you cause a car accident, you may not be the only one who has to pay for the damage you caused. In some cases you may not have to pay at all. 

In some cases, your employer may not be responsible if you caused a car accident while driving for work purposes. 

For more information, see Driving for work when you are an employee or independent contractor. 

If your employer says they are not responsible, or if they try to make a claim against you for damage to their car, you should get legal advice.

If you are an employee and you were at fault in a car accident, in some circumstances your employer may be responsible to pay for the damage you caused. This is called 'vicarious liability'. 

If you are an independent contractor driving your own car and you are at fault in a car accident, you will be responsible for any damage caused as a result of the accident. 

Are you an employee or an independent contractor? 

It can be difficult to work out if someone is an employee or an independent contractor. For example, a person might be an employee if they: 

• ​​​​​get sick leave and annual leave
  
• have tax deducted from their pay by the person paying them
• are supplied with tools and equipment
• are told what hours to work
• fill out timesheets
• are directed when and how to perform​ the tasks of their job
• receive superannuation contribu​tions from their employer
• are covered for workers compensation by their employer. 

​Working out whether you are an employee or an independent contractor can be complicated. If you are unsure you should get legal advi​ce. ​

If you are an independent contractor and you caused a car accident, you should get legal advice. 

Does the car you were driving belong to you? 

An independent contractor who causes an accident while driving a car belonging to the person that contracted (hired) them, may be able to claim that the person who contracted them is liable. 

If you are an independent contractor and you caused a car accident, you should get legal advice. 

If you are an employee driving your own car but you are driving for your employer's purposes, your employer may be liable. This is called 'vicarious liability'. 

If your employer doesn't accept responsibility for a car accident you were involved in, you should get legal adv​ice. 

Is your employer liable for your actions? 

If you caused an accident while driving for work, your employer may be responsible for the damage you caused to another car or property. This is called 'vicarious liability'. 

Your employer will usually be responsible if you were driving the car for work purposes, for example, if you were driving the car to pick something up for your employer. 

Sometimes your employer may not be liable for an accident you caused whilst driving for work. Your employer will usually not be liable if: 

• ​​the accident involved your 'serious or wilful misconduct' such as driving while drunk or intentionally causing the accident
• you used the car in a way that was not permitted by your employment agreement, such as allowing your partner to drive the work car
• you were using the work car for your own purpose, such as picking up your friend from the airport.

If your employer is responsible for an accident caused by you, the owner of the other car can still claim against you. If your employer does not accept responsibility you may be able to make a claim (called a 'cross-claim') against your employer.

If the owner of the other car says you should pay for the damage you caused while driving for work, you should get legal advice.

If your employer is responsible for an accident caused by you they usually cannot claim against you for the damage to their car or the other car.

If your employer, their insurance company, or another driver is claiming the cost of repairs from you, you should get l​egal advice. 

If you had a car accident and the other driver was at fault and was driving for work, you may be able to claim against their employer for the cost of the repairs to your car.  

An employer may be responsible if:

• ​​the driver was an employee
  
• the driver was driving for work purposes. 

If you are certain that the driver of the other car was an employee driving for work, you may be able to make a claim against both the driver and the employer. You would need to show that the driver was an employee of the owner. 

If you start a Court case against an employer for damage caused by their employee and the Court finds that the employer is not vicariously liable, you may be ordered to pay the employer's legal costs. Before you start a claim, you should get legal advice.

Every taxi driven on NSW roads must be run by an operator. The operator of the taxi service must have an insurance policy that covers their drivers for any damage they cause. 

Operators are not the same as the networks that take bookings for taxis, such as Legion Cabs, Combined Taxis, and Silver Service Taxis. Networks are not responsible for damage caused by taxis in a car accident.  

Information for other drivers

If you have an accident where the taxi driver is at fault, the operator's insurance company should pay for your damage.  

All taxis must carry a copy of the current insurance policy. You should ask to see the policy at the time of the accident and write down the details. If the driver doesn't have a copy of the policy or you didn't get the information at the time of the accident, you can contact the driver or the operator after the accident. 

If you didn't get the details of the driver, you can make an access application to Transport for NSW. 

For more information, see Exchanging details, in What to do after an accident. 

If you have an accident where the taxi driver is at fault, and the operator doesn't make a claim on their insurance policy, you should get legal advice. 

If you have an accident with a ride-sharing service such as uber, and the other driver was at fault, you should send your claim directly to the driver. Drivers of ride-sharing services must have comprehensive insurance.

Information for taxi drivers

All taxis must be insured. The operator of the taxi is responsible for insuring the taxi.

If you were involved in an accident, you must notify the operator and provide details of the accident. Generally, the operator is responsible for any claim arising out of an accident made against the driver. 

If the operator refuses to make a claim on their insurance policy, you should get legal advice. You may be liable to pay the excess if you had an agreement with the operator.

If the other driver serves a statement of claim against you, you may be able to file a cross-claim against the operator. 

You have 28 days to respond to a statement of claim. You should get legal advice about your situation. 

If you are an operator of a taxi, you may be required to notify the accident to the Transport Commissioner. For more information, see Notifiable Occurrences factsheet on the Point to Point Transport Commissioner website. 

Every public passenger bus driven on NSW roads must be run by an operator. The operator of the bus service must have an insurance policy that covers their drivers for any damage they cause. 

If you have an accident with a bus and the bus driver is at fault, you should send your claim to the operator to pass on to their insurance company. 

If you are involved in an accident with a State Transit bus (Sydney Buses) you should call the Public Transport info line on 131 500 and report it. You should then write a letter of demand to State Transit, with a diagram of the accident and two repair quotes. 

To find the contact details of private bus operators in rural and regional New South Wales, see Transport operators on the Transport for NSW website.​ 

If you have an accident with a truck or other heavy vehicle and you are not at fault, you may be able to claim from the driver and/or the driver's employer. 

For more information, see Driving for work, in Car accidents.

If the driver doesn't exchange details, you can make an access application to Transport for NSW to find out the details of the owner. You can then ask the owner for the details of the driver of the truck at the time of the accident. 

For more information, see Exchanging details, in What to do after an accident.

Once you have the details of both the owner and the driver, you can contact them about paying for your damage. 

For more information, see Making a claim.

When trying to work out who was at fault you should keep in mind that all drivers have a duty to take reasonable care when driving. This includes keeping a safe distance between your car and the other vehicles around you. Some larger vehicles may need more room when turning corners or driving through roundabouts, and some heavy vehicles may also need more time to stop. There are also special rules that apply to buses and trucks, for example, buses may have a right of way when entering traffic and trucks may have a right of way when turning at intersections. 

Hire car companies are generally not responsible for damage caused by the drivers of their cars, unless the driver was their employee. When a person hires a car and they cause an accident, they will be responsible for any damage caused. 

When a person hires a car, they usually sign a rental agreement. Some rental agreements do not cover damage to other cars or property (called 'third party property damage'). 

If you were in an accident with a hire car, and the driver of the hire car was at fault, the hire car company may be able to help you make your claim if the car was insured for third party property damage. You should provide them with quotes for repairs to your car. 

If you are not sure if the driver of the hire car has third party property insurance, you should get legal advice.  

If the car was not insured for third party property damage, you can make a claim on the driver directly.

For more information, see the factsheet  Rental cars and insurance on the Financial Rights Legal Centre website. 

If the driver of a hire car doesn't stop and exchange their details you could make an application to Transport for NSW to get the details of the hire car company. 

For more information, see Identifying the other party under Making a claim.

Once you have the hire car company's details, you may be able to get the details of the driver from them. 

If you are having difficulty getting the details of a driver from a hire car company, you should get legal advice​​. 

If you are the driver of a hire car and are involved in an accident, the hire car company's insurance will generally cover any damage caused to the hire car. You may need to pay a higher excess. 

If you are driving a hire car and you cause an accident, the driver of the other car can claim against you.

When you hire a car, you usually must pay more to get insurance to cover you for damage to other cars or property (called 'third party property damage'). You will need to check the rental agreement to see if you are covered for third party property damage. 

When you hire a rental car it is very important to read the fine print in the rental agreement. Sometimes the rental agreement has terms and conditions that can limit your cover in certain circumstances, such as when the car is being driven by someone not on the rental agreement or if you admit you were at fault in an accident. 

If you are the driver at fault, the rental agreement may not cover damage to other cars or property. If this is the case, the owner of the other car may make a claim against you directly.

If you were in an accident whilst driving a hire car, you should get legal advice.  

In some cases, an employee of the hire car company will drive the hire cars as part of the service. For example, limousines and wedding cars are often hired with a driver and these hire cars are licensed to carry public passengers.

If you have an accident with a specialised hire car and you are not sure who to make a claim against, or if you cause an accident while you are the driver of a specialised hire car and don't know whether you have to pay for the cost of any damage, see Driving for ​work.

A bike is considered a vehicle and cyclists must follow the same NSW Road Rules as drivers of other ​vehicles. 

There are also Road Rules that only apply to cyclists.

Cyclists: 

• ​must use a bike lane if one is available, unless there is a good reason not to (for example, if the bike lane is blocked​​)
• can take up a full lane when riding on the road
• must give way to other vehicles leaving the roundabout, at roundabouts with two or more lanes
• can overtake to the left except where a car is turning left
• must not ride across a road or crossing
• must not ride on a road marked with a "No bikes" sign or road marking
• must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver or pedestrian
• must not hold onto another vehicle that is moving.

All drivers of a motor vehicle (including motorcyclists) must:

• ​​leave at least one metre between the motor vehicle and a bike when passing a cyclist on a road with a speed limit of 60km/h and below
• leave at least one and a half metres between the vehicle and a bike when passing a cyclist on a road with a speed limit above 60km/h.

If a bike is involved in an accident with a car, both the rider and the driver are required to stop and exchange details. Where a bike rider or driver has not stopped to exchange details after an accident, you can report the accident to the police, providing a description of the bike and the rider, or the car and the driver.

Not many bike riders are insured for the damage they cause to other people's cars or property.

If you have an accident with them and they are at fault, you can still claim for your damage from the bike rider.

For more information, see Making a claim.

Before making a claim, you should consider whether they are able to pay. 

If you are in an accident with an animal that is being used as transport, you can work out who is responsible in the same way as if you had an accident with a car. People using animals for transport must follow the same Road Rules that cars and other vehicles do.

If the owner or rider of an animal doesn't give you their contact details at the time of the accident, you can report the accident to the police. It may be difficult to find their details later. 

If an animal causes an accident involving a car or other vehicle, the owner of the animal will usually be responsible if the owner did something that was negligent (that is, failed to take reasonable care).

For example, the owner may not have taken steps to stop their dog from wandering on the road such as putting up a fence, or an owner may not have closed a gate that allowed an animal onto the road. 

You need to consider the type of animal and the location of the accident to work out whether the animal's owner failed to take reasonable care. 

For example, it may be negligent for the owner of a herd of cattle to keep them on unfenced land near a busy highway, but it may not be negligent to keep the same herd on unfenced land near a rarely used road.  

If you hit and injure an animal (apart from a bird), you are required by law to do whatever you reasonably can to ease its pain. If it's not a wild animal then the injury must be reported to the police or the animal's owner.