No-fault Accident Research Articles

Consumer Product Failure Causing Personal Injury Under the No-Fault Accident Compensation Scheme in New Zealand—a Let-off for Manufacturers?

This article examines how the no-fault accident compensation system in New Zealand operates to relieve manufacturers from liability to consumers for product failures which cause personal injury or death. The state-run accident compensation scheme pays compensation to persons who suffer “personal injury by accident” and bars claims for compensation from the party at fault. The advantage for consumers is that they are entitled to compensation from the accident compensation scheme as of right and do not need to make claims against manufacturers of products which cause injury or death. The article outlines some limited circumstances when consumers may claim compensation from manufacturers and identifies other avenues for holding manufacturers responsible for injury or death caused by faulty products. The paper makes three recommendations to increase manufacturer responsibility: (1) allow the regulatory body which administers the Accident Compensation system to claim compensation, by way of subrogation, from manufacturers in limited circumstances; (2) require manufacturers to pay an additional “product liability” levy to the accident compensation scheme; and (3) amend the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to cover non-workplace accidents exposing manufacturers of unsafe products to Worksafe investigation and possible criminal liability. The article argues that imposing additional responsibility on manufacturers for product failures which cause personal injury or death is justified on the grounds of fairness. Arguments based on corrective fairness and distributive fairness can both be relevant in cases of personal injury caused to consumers by manufacturers.

Contemporary medical understanding of the 'no-fault accident' during birth: amniotic fluid embolism, pulmonary embolism, meconium aspiration syndrome, and cerebral palsy

Although every pregnant woman and her physician hope for an easy pregnancy free of complications, complications can occur to a greater or lesser extent, some of which are still considered inevitable. The maternal mortality ratio in the Republic of Korea recently increased from 13.5 per 100,000 live births in 2009 to 17.2 in 2011, along with a noticeable increase, of up to 20%, in the proportion of older pregnant women (>35 years old). In contrast to postpartum bleeding, which has decreased, amniotic fluid embolism and pulmonary embolism, which are closely related to older maternal age and typically considered inevitable, are causing an increasing proportion of maternal mortalities. The neonatal mortality rate, defined the rate of death per 1,000 live births under 28 days of life, was reported to be 1.7 in 2011 in Korea and respiratory distress of newborns accounts for about one third of neonatal deaths. The pre-valence of cerebral palsy (CP) is approximately 2 per 1,000 live-born children and has remained unchanged over recent decades worldwide. Although multiple antenatal factors, including pre-term birth, low birth weight, infection/inflammation, multiple gestation, and other pregnancy com-plications have been frequently associated with CP, the underlying causes of CP remain largely unknown and recent evidence has indicated that birth asphyxia plays a minor role. This review provides information on the contemporary medical understanding of amniotic fluid embolism, pulmonary embolism, meconium aspiration syndrome, and CP, which are generally considered to be 'no-fault accidents' during birth.

From Principle to Parsimony: A Critical Analysis of New Zealand's No-Fault Accident Compensation Scheme

In 1974, the New Zealand government created the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC) to compensate citizens for all work-related and nonwork-related injuries. The scheme was designed to meet the egalitarian and social welfare goals of New Zealand's government, and replaced a tort liability system like that of the United States. The scheme served two aims: It idealized the goals of social welfare planners, and avoided what was believed to be the problems and excesses of tort liability. This paper critically examines the 25-year history of the ACC. The paper includes descriptions of the ACC's functions and failures, and analyzes the agency's performance in the light of statutory and administrative changes. This examination concludes that financial and political pressures on ACC have led failure of the present system to achieve the social justice principles of the original scheme. The essence of the failure can be seen in recent changes that have resulted in privatization of accident compensation for work-related injuries.

Insurance, Liability, and Accidents: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of the Effect of No-Fault Accidents

This paper investigates the effect on accidents of removing liability for motor vehicle accident injuries. The first part of the paper shows that compulsory insurance can serve as a substitute for a liability rule, so that no increase in accident losses will occur from restricting liability. The second part of the paper investigates accident losses by state, comparing states that have and have not restricted liability for motor vehicle accident injuries.

A Theory of Strict Liability

A Theory of Strict Liability