This video story provides legal information about car accidents for all states and territories except West Australia.
It is the part of a series of videos about the law for people who have recently arrived in Australia.
Car Accident Student Kit - 209KB PDF File (2 pages).
Car Accident Teacher Kit - 190KB PDF File (2 pages).
Transcript of Video
Maryam is driving a car and Sanda is her passenger.
Maryam: Do you want to get some lunch before or after we shop?
Sanda: I’m a bit hungry, let’s get a ... sound of squealing typres, then...SMASH
Maryam: Oh my goodness! I hit that car!
Driver of the other car gets out of his car and walks towards Maryam's car.
Maryam: Let’s get out of here... the guy’s not hurt!
Sanda: Maryam! What are you doing? You have to stop when you have an accident!
Driver: You idiot! Look at my car! You’ll have to pay! I hope you have insurance.
Sanda: It’s OK. No-one’s hurt. Here are my friend’s details. Can you give us your name and address as well?
Details are exchanged and driver goes away.
Maryam: Do I have to tell the police?
Sanda: Hmmm….I’m not sure. Let’s phone the police and ask them.
Maryam: Phew, lucky I got my car registered. The insurance will pay to fix the car.
Sanda: No! The insurance you get with your registration is called compulsory third party insurance. It pays for people who get hurt. You need to have separate insurance for car repairs.
Maryam: Oh no!
A few weeks later, Maryam calls Sanda on the telephone.
Maryam: Sanda? Hi, this is Maryam. Hey, remember that car accident? I just got a letter from that guy’s insurance company.
Sanda: What does it say?
Maryam: I have to pay $2,000 in 14 days! I can’t pay that! What can I do?
Sanda: You need to see a lawyer Maryam.
Maryam contacts the Legal Aid Commission to see a lawyer.
Maryam: Can you help me with this?
Lawyer: Well, I’ll write to the insurance company – we’ll find out if you should pay and if you should, how much.
Maryam: Oh, thank you.
Lawyer: And, you really should get car insurance.
Maryam: But it’s so expensive!
Lawyer: Well, you can get third party property insurance which pays for damage to the other car. That is quite cheap. But if you can pay a bit more, and you’ve got a good car, get comprehensive insurance.
Maryam: What’s that?
Lawyer: That means the insurance pays for damage to the other car and to your car. But, make sure you look around to get a good price.
Maryam: OK, thanks so much for your help.
Lawyer: I’ll be in touch when I hear from the insurance company.