Redlich's Work Injury Lawyers has assisted an injured Victorian in overturning a decision by the Transport Accident Commission to reduce her entitlements.

The driver was injured when she travelled through an intersection and another vehicle performed an illegal turn in front of her, causing the collision. Prior to the accident, the driver had consumed two glasses of wine throughout the day, and a mandatory breath-test at the scene of the collision found that the driver had a blood alcohol reading of 0.051. An investigation by Victoria Police confirmed that despite the presence of alcohol, the incident was not the driver's fault.

Under the transport accident legislation, the TAC has the power to reduce an injured party's entitlement to weekly compensation for lost income by one third if their blood alcohol content is between 0.050 and 0.12. The reduction can be higher if the blood alcohol reading is higher. However, the TAC is not required to apply this reduction automatically, and can chose not to reduce the payment if the intoxication of the party did not contribute to the occurrence of the accident.

The TAC initially did apply the one third reduction to the injured driver's weekly payments of compensation. Michael Lombard assisted the injured driver to challenge TAC's decision on the grounds that the presence of alcohol did not contribute to the accident occurring. After much negotiation and discussion, the TAC has now withdrawn the reduction and the injured driver's full payments have been restored, including a full repayment for previous reductions.

Navigating your entitlements under the transport accident system can be difficult. If you or someone you know have been injured in a transport accident, we invite you to speak to one of our expert injury lawyers on (03) 9321 9988.