A motor vehicle accident lawyer for road users in East Ryde

The CTP scheme follows the vehicle, not the person. Every registered motor vehicle in NSW carries a Green Slip, and the policy responds to injuries the vehicle causes, whether the person hurt was inside it or not. So the question for a rider, cyclist or pedestrian is simple to ask but sometimes hard to answer: was a motor vehicle part of how you were hurt?

Getting into or out of a vehicle is a common grey area. If a passing car hit you as you stepped out, or your driver moved off while you were halfway out, the injury may come from the use of a motor vehicle. Whether it does depends on exactly what happened, so write it down while it's fresh and have it checked.

Electric bikes are generally treated like pedal bikes for this purpose, so if a motor vehicle hit you on one, you claim against that vehicle's insurer. E-scooters are less settled. A car that hit you on a scooter still carries a Green Slip, but expect questions about where you were riding and the type of device. Check before accepting a refusal.

A helmet, lights after dark and your position on the road may all come up if the insurer says you contributed to the crash. Any reduction depends on evidence, including whether the missing item made an injury worse, and it generally shrinks a claim rather than ending it. Turning drivers are generally expected to give way to riders in a marked bike lane.

A pedestrian hit by a car, truck, bus or motorbike claims against that vehicle's CTP insurer. You don't need a car or a licence. Drivers must keep a lookout for pedestrians, yet blame doesn't always sit with the driver alone. An insurer may argue you contributed, for example by crossing against the lights, which can reduce some later entitlements without stopping the claim.

For an older person, being knocked down by a vehicle can mean weeks away from home and help with everyday tasks afterwards. Record what support they now need, from shopping to personal care. Age doesn't affect the right to claim, and a family member can help manage the claim if the injured person agrees.

Buses, taxis and rideshare cars carry CTP insurance like any other registered vehicle. As a passenger, you generally claim against the insurer of whichever vehicle caused the crash: the one you were in if its driver was at fault, or another vehicle if that driver was. You claim against the insurer, not the bus company or the app. Passengers are rarely found at fault.

If you were delivering when a vehicle hit you, the order of claims matters. Where you were working as an employee, workers compensation generally comes first and CTP benefits aren't usually paid on top, though a damages claim against the driver's CTP insurer may remain. If you're a contractor, CTP may be the main path. Any platform cover sits alongside these, on its own terms.

A rider hit by a car or truck makes the same kind of claim a driver would, against the insurer of the vehicle at fault. A rider who came down alone isn't shut out either: the bike's own Green Slip may pay statutory benefits. For a rider found wholly or mostly at fault, those generally run for the first 52 weeks only, with no damages claim, which is still far from nothing.

Broken bones, torn ligaments, nerve damage and head injuries are common in motorcycle crashes. Those are generally not threshold injuries, which matters for how long benefits run and whether damages may be possible. Make sure each doctor records every injury, not just the most painful one, and links it to the crash in their notes.

When a truck is to blame, the injury claim is made to that truck's CTP insurer. Nothing about the scheme or its time limits changes because the vehicle was a heavy one. What can differ is the evidence. Many trucks carry forward-facing cameras, some record location and speed, and heavy-vehicle drivers may keep work diaries. None of it will necessarily exist, and it may not be kept for long.

Interstate trucks are a constant presence on the Hume, Pacific and Newell highways. A crash with one in NSW is generally still handled under the NSW scheme, though identifying the insurer can take longer. Make sure the claim records the truck's home state and the precise location, so the paperwork doesn't stall.

For crashes involving trucks, buses and rideshare cars, the operator may hold records you don't: onboard cameras, telematics, trip logs and driver hours. They aren't kept forever. Note the company, the route or fleet number and the time, and ask early. For passengers, a trip receipt or card record shows you were on board.

• Your ride-tracking or GPS file from the day
• Photos of the crossing, lane markings or bike lane
• Your damaged helmet and gear, kept unrepaired
• A screenshot of the rideshare or delivery trip