Brisbane City Council ordered to pay $675,000 for 2009 cyclist injury

The Brisbane City Council has been ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay $675,000 to Victor Dennison, a cyclist who suffered a traumatic brain injury and the loss of his eye during a 2009 accident in Aspley.

On December 18, 2009, Dennison attempted to avoid plastic mesh protecting curing concrete on Zillmere Road. He collided with the makeshift barricade and was impaled on an uncapped metal stake supporting the mesh. While council workers had initially placed orange cones at the site, they were reportedly stolen overnight.

A previous Supreme Court ruling had found the council not liable, but Justice Shane Doyle overturned that decision. The Court of Appeal ruled that the council should have provided better warnings, noting that the orange mesh and metal poles were not reflective and no lights or signs were present to alert riders to the hazard.