A woman has been awarded $205,000 after a car crashed into her and her mother, causing psychological trauma that will likely "continue for the rest of her life".
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The driver was attempting to park in a carpark off Challis Street in Dickson, next to the Road and Transport Authority inspection station on 31 January, 2011.
But instead of stopping in the parking bay, the driver accelerated forward, going over a gutter and on to a walkway.
Two women, an elderly mother and her daughter, were on the walkway, when they heard a car moving at speed in the carpark.
The daughter turned to see the car, which appeared to be accelerating and was moving toward her.
She instinctively stepped TO the left, but the car hit her, and she landed on its bonnet, before rolling off and into the gutter.
The woman stood up and hobbled over to the front of the car, seeing her mother lying on her back unconscious.
She was lying awkwardly and people had surrounded her.
Someone grabbed a CPR kit from the motor registry and there were attempts to revive her.
An ambulance soon arrived, and paramedics, she said, told her there was no room for her in the ambulance. She became "panic stricken" and frantic, and tried to get police to quickly take her to the hospital.
When she eventually got there, she still had no idea what had happened to her mum.
All she was told as that her mother had been stabilised and was being cared for, but needed to be transferred to the Canberra Hospital.
She was able to see her mother before the transfer, and she looked unconscious, "white as a ghost", and non-responsive.
Following treatment for her own minor injuries, the woman went to Canberra Hospital, but was unable to find out what condition her mother was in.
She said she was again given no information the next day, or the day after that. Eventually her mother was moved from intensive care to a head trauma ward, where she remained until May 2011, when she was moved to a high care unit in a nursing home.
The accident affected the daughter significantly. She was unable to drive for some time out of fear. When she was behind the wheel, she felt herself sweat, her heart would quicken and chest tighten, and she would clench her fists.
The problems were exacerbated in carparks.
She became hypervigilant, frightened by sudden noises, and developed a hatred of carparks. The woman went to doctors, counsellors, a psychiatrist and physiotherapist.
A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder was made. Her condition worsened in July 2013, when she witnessed a motorcycle accident.
The woman launched a civil claim in the ACT courts, represented by Ken Cush and Associates, and the case was heard before Magistrate Peter Dingwall.
The driver and third party insurer admitted liability, but denied the woman suffered the injuries and disabilities that she claimed, or that she needed treatment by the range of medicos she went to.
The defendants also argued she was not entitled to the loss and damages she had claimed.
Mr Dingwall was asked to determine damages, and did so late last month, describing the woman's ongoing psychological trauma as "very significant and at times debilitating".
He said he was satisfied that her condition had been ongoing since the accident, although she was sometimes able to function at closer to her normal level, while experiencing more pronounced symptoms at other times.
"I am satisfied that this pattern will continue for the rest of her life," Mr Dingwall wrote.
He awarded $205,000, including $131,000 damages, $22,000 for domestic assistance, and $12,800 for out-of-pocket expenses.
