The rider was travelling along Barraclough Street in Monash after dark in May 2008.

He approached a T-intersection, slowed to 30km/h and, believing the car had seen him, kept going.

Despite looking in the direction of the bike, the driver of the car didn't see it and pulled out.

The two vehicles collided, and the rider later launched civil action in the ACT Magistrates Court.

He won the case last year, and was awarded $193,150.

That's despite the driver arguing the motorcyclist's dark clothing and defective headlight made him difficult to see on the road.

The headlight was using a 12 volt bulb in a six volt system, providing poor illumination, and brightness levels that varied depending on the revolutions produced by the engine.

It barely lit the road in front of the bike.

The driver appealed to the ACT Supreme Court, arguing that the rider should have been found to have contributed to the crash, because of his lack of illumination.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell handed down her decision in the case, agreeing that the bike rider was partly responsible for the crash.

Chief Justice Murrell dismissed the other grounds of the appeal, and upheld the finding that the driver had primary liability for the collision by failing to give way.

She attributed two-thirds of the responsibility for the crash to the driver, and one-third to the motorcyclist.

"I cannot accept that the respondent's reduced visibility played no part in the accident," the judge wrote.

"The respondent was negligent in that he embarked upon the risky enterprise of riding a motorcycle at night with a defective headlight that diminished his visibility to other road users.

"This was a significant departure from the required standard of care."

Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated the motorcyclist's dark clothing had made him partially at fault for the crash. The appellant in the case had made arguments to that effect, but Chief Justice Helen Murrell's judgment made no specific finding to either dismiss or uphold that argument.