A GRACEMERE man has launched legal action over a car accident in which he struck a group of horses near the Gracemere Saleyards Complex.
Shaun Hutton is claiming $1.068 million in personal injuries and other loss and damages sustained in the accident which happened around 4am on 11 November, 2013.
Three defendants have been named in the legal action including RLX Operating Company, which owns and operates the Gracemere Saleyards Complex, Rockhampton Performance Horse Incorporated, which was hosting an event at the complex, and the owner of the horses.
The statement of claim said RLX Operating Company and Rockhampton Performance Horse should have known if livestock wandered from the saleyards and traversed the Capricorn Highway, it would likely cause high speed motor vehicle collisions in which persons may be killed or suffer personal injury.
The claim alleged the horses had wandered or escaped from the saleyards complex, and that the defendants had failed to secure the horses and adequately maintain fencing and yards at the complex to ensure they were in working order.
The court action comes as a petition, “Safer roads for drivers in QLD – Station owners to fence livestock”, gathers support.
The petition was launched after Cooktown fisherman Kristan Parkes, 38, died after his car hit a bull on the Mulligan Highway, a state-controlled stretch of road between Cairns and Cooktown, on January 16, the 14th fatality on the road since 2010.
It is seeking to abolish the 1947 Searle v Wallbank Rule which absolves livestock owners for damage caused by wandering stock.
Mt Larcom resident Frank Lenz has been lobbying the State Government for two decades seeking clarification on the application of the rule following a personal experience as a livestock owner.
Mr Lenz said he has attended six Community Cabinet meetings, the first 19 years ago where he met with Lawrence Springborg, and has written numerous letters to state government ministers and local government authorities in his campaign about the continued use of the rule.
He most recently met with Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’ath at the Gladstone Community Cabinet meeting last month.
At his previous property, Mr Lenz said he had met his obligations to fence his property along a local government-controlled road in the Gladstone region where other landholders had not.
“I ask for good governance and for the same laws to apply regardless of which road, or which side of the road you live on.”
Mr Lenz said he had been advised that the State Government had empowered local governments to abolish the rule, if they wished, under the Local Government Act 1993. The petition had more than 400 signatures yesterday and will close at the end of the month.
