Plaintiff was in a car accident at a dangerous point in the road and sued R for negligence saying that it (the highway authority) should have painted a “slow” sign in the road so as to prevent accidents.
HL said there was no duty of care since the statutory duty to “maintain the highway” did not give rise to a duty of care or private enforcement.
To infer a private duty of care from a statutory duty the public authority must have ‘assumed responsibility’ for the subject in question and there must be universal reliance.
To infer a private duty from a public one, it is necessary to look at parliament’s intent and whether the statute affords protection to a limited or limitless class of people.
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Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence | Road Traffic Accidents Notes (7 pages) |