Postie awarded almost half a million dollars for being hit on the job

Now, after years of pain and mental anguish, Mr Steed was awarded almost half a million dollars in the ACT Supreme Court.

Mr Steed was travelling along Mannheim Street in Kambah, riding his postman's motorbike, when he collided with a Toyota Supra being reversed out of a driveway by Joshua McDougall.

While it was a low speed crash, Mr Steed suffered a fractured left leg, a soft tissue ankle injury, a hand injury and anxiety and associated mental health concerns as a result.

He went from a man that enjoyed his job, played tennis, rode bikes and went on various outings with his wife, to a man who felt crippled by anxiety and couldn't hold down a job.

He suffered chronic pain from the injuries, necessitating using a walking stick to get around, and couldn't find a job that he was able to perform with the lingering affects of his injuries after leaving Australia Post in 2016.

It wasn't the first time he'd been hit by a car while on the job either, having been knocked unconscious after a collision in 1993 and hit again without injury in 1995, both times in South Australia.  The collision in 2014 was seen to push Mr Steed over the edge.

While he received workers compensation from Australia Post for a period after the accident, that eventually dried up when the company ceased claiming liability for the injuries as the car driver was deemed at fault.

Mr McDougall's compulsory third party insurance was held with NRMA who, in court, rejected liability and contended Mr Steed had, at the very least, also been negligent in causing the accident.

Much of the case before Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson depended on establishing whether one of the parties had been more negligent than the other.

The maximum limit for postman bikes is 10 kilometres per hour, but expert witnesses could not accurately determine the speed of Mr Steed on the motorbike based off the damage to the vehicles.

There was a skid mark left on the driveway which the NRMA claimed was from Mr Steed's motorcycle but which he said had previously been there.

In her judgement, Justice Loukas-Karlsson said Mr McDougall had a duty of care to anyone using the path while reversing from his driveway which intersected it, including Mr Steed.

Mr McDougall was able to stop the car before it crossed the path and look along the path, she said, which he admitted he did not do on that occasion. Mr McDougall admitted to the court he said "Mate, I didn't see you" to Mr Steed immediately after the collision.

While she found Mr McDougall negligent, she also found contributory negligence on the part of Mr Steed for not keeping a proper lookout ahead of him, which meant his compensation would be partially reduced.

She awarded Mr Steed $478,561.77 in damages and the defendants are responsible to pay court costs.

Mr Steed's representative Maurice Blackburn senior associate Jacinta Northam said the judgment created a precedent for the court that was positive for people injured in accidents.

"This judgment is life changing for our client after what has been a very long and stressful fight," Ms Northam said.

"The outcome demonstrates the importance of holding insurers to account in their obligation to injured people within our community, particularly at a time when the ACT Government is proposing significant changes to the CTP scheme in the ACT."

Some of the money awarded will have to be paid to Australia Post to recoup the amount it paid in workers compensation.

The NRMA as Mr McDougall's insurance provider is liable for the payment and the defendants have 28 days to lodge an appeal.