Driving around in a paddock bomb is a rite of passage for many country kids, but the consequences if things go wrong can be devastating, a south-west legal expert warns.
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Stringer Clark partner and personal injury specialist John Cramp said if a crash occurred, owners could expect to not only have to deal with the trauma involved, but potential compensation claims.
“I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and he went round to a mate’s house and they were driving around in a paddock bomb. It’s a common scenario,” Mr Cramp said.
On researching the issue, Mr Cramp said there was a “sting in the tail”.
“It’s quite complex, the way the TAC legislation works,” he said.
“There’s some real sting in the tail when I looked into it, if you are the driver, a passenger or a pedestrian injured by an uninsured vehicle on private land you will be covered, unless you own the vehicle. If you’re the owner you get no coverage.
“Let’s say I have a farm and a paddock bomb and I invite some mates to come out, I’m driving around with a friend in the front seat and I’m going a bit fast and the car slides out. I get injured, the passenger gets injured and one of my mates that’s standing there gets hit by the car, I don’t have anything that I can claim against TAC, but they do.
“I’m sure people get injured in paddock bombs.
“The danger (is) that if you’re the owner of a paddock bomb you have no cover, anyone else has cover but the TAC has recovery rights against the owner.
“So suddenly, this concept of people with paddock bombs, it’s quite a dangerous area.
“The bottom line is get some legal advice if something like this happens.”
Mr Cramp said owners of unregistered farm vehicles could also face issues.
“If a farmer goes and buys a new quad bike… and says, ‘don’t register it, I’m just going to use it on private property’ it saves him $400 a year. If he does that and he’s injured on private property, on his farm, he does not have any TAC coverage whatsoever,” he said.
The message when it comes to farm vehicles is get them registered, Mr Cramp said.
“If the vehicle is only going to be used on private land as a work vehicle, there’s a much reduced fee to actually register it.
“I heard a farmer that had to sell his farm after an injury on a motorbike. I really wanted to catch farmers and say, ‘hey, don’t think that you’re saving a lot of money’.”
