Student Name: Student Number: Student Signature: SCHOOL OF LAW AND JUSTICE Course code: LAW1113/5113 Course Name: CIVIL OBLIGATIONS A (CONTRACT AND TORTS)/ ADVANCED CIVIL OBLIGATIONS A (CONTRACT AND TORTS) Examination Period: Semester 1 2014 Examination Duration: Two (2) Hours and Ten (10) Minutes Total examination marks: 70 Examiner: NOELEEN MCNAMARA Moderator: DES TAYLOR Examination: ☒ End of Semester ☐ Deferred ☐ Supplementary THIS EXAMINATION PAPER MUST NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION ROOM Students must comply with USQ mandatory examination conditions. Special Instructions: This examination is: ☐ Closed ☒ Open ☐ Restricted. The following conditions apply to this Restricted examination: Permitted printed or written material: ☐ None ☒ Any ☐ As specified:……………………………………………………………………….…………………….. Permitted calculator: ☐ No Yes ☒ non-programmable ☒ calculator which cannot hold textual information Calculator Make and Model …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. (Failure to complete this section may delay the release of your grade) Permitted un-marked, non-electronic, non-technical, non-diagrammatic language translation dictionary: ☐ No ☒ Yes This examination consists of 2 parts to be answered: Part A: Ten (10) multiple choice questions worth a total of 10 marks (CMA sheet) Part B: Two (2) problem questions worth a total of (60) marks (Exam Booklet) OFFICE USE ONLY Questions / Part Result Delete section if not required PLACE LABEL HERE Any non-USQ copyright material used herein is reproduced under the provisions of Section 200 (1) (b) of the Copyright Amendment Act 1980.   PART A Multiple Choice questions [NOT RELEASED] PART B Problem Questions You are required to answer all parts of the two (2) questions. This section is worth a total of sixty (60) marks. Please record your answers in the examination answer booklet provided. Please begin each question on a new page. QUESTION 11 (30 marks total) (a) 20 marks For the past five years ACME Pty Ltd ("ACME"), a company that specialises in the building of low-cost housing, has entered into one-yearly contracts with Big Bricks Pty Ltd ("Big Bricks") for the supply of house bricks. Each of these contracts has been preceded by protracted negotiations in which new terms and conditions have been agreed between the parties. In the most recent set of negotiations, for a proposed contract in 2014, the parties had agreed on the type and quantity of bricks to be supplied. The specified quantity easily exceeded Big Brick's expectations, bearing in mind previous contracts. ACME thereupon sent Big Bricks a letter of intent which includes the following statement: "As per negotiations we intend to contract with you, purchasing 2.5 million bricks (type agreed) for the year 2014 at a price to be confirmed." Big Bricks purchases additional machinery in order to manufacture the increased quantity of bricks and goes into immediate production. Consider the legal position of the parties if negotiations between them break down and ACME refuses to purchase any bricks from Big Bricks. (b) 10 marks Zack, aged 17, is a trainee racing driver apprenticed to Henry. Zack has just moved out of home and decides to purchase new hi-fi equipment from Great Hi-Fi Ltd to the value of $14,000. He has selected this particular equipment because he feels that he 'deserves the best equipment money can buy'. Whilst he has taken delivery of this equipment, he has not yet paid for it, having been offered a deferred payment arrangement for 6 months. Zack now wishes to accept an offer from Dream Team & Co to drive racing cars for them, but has discovered that the terms of his agreement with Henry provide that he is to be apprenticed for a further four years at the same salary. Advise Zack as to his legal position in relation to paying for the hi-fi equipment and accepting the new offer of employment.   QUESTION 12 (30 marks total) Otis is a tech savvy man who likes to watch Game of Thrones on his smart phone and who takes his online social presence very seriously. Between his Tumblr blog, Facebook account, Twitter updates and Instagram shots (usually with the hashtag #ihaveitall) he is kept very busy. Otis has poor eyesight and wears glasses with thick black frames as they disguise the thickness of his lenses. Lately he has been thinking that he needs to get his eyes checked because he has been unable to read some road and street signs. Otis drives a 1991 Volvo 240 Wagon. One Friday afternoon, Otis and his friends, Lola, Seb and Ariel decide to go camping. Otis was driving, while Lola sat in the front passenger seat and Seb and Ariel were seated in the back. On the way to the camping site, Otis rarely had two hands on the steering wheel. Otis was either texting, updating his status or incessantly running his fingers through his hair. Lola also noticed that he was relying heavily on her to read the road signs to him. At one point she said, "Otis! That was an epic fail – you went through a red light!" Otis replied, "Soz. I do it all the time. I never get fined". And Lola replied "I'm more concerned about our safety!" As they came closer to the camping site, the road became narrower and had some tight bends. On one bend, Seb said to Otis, "Here! Look at this; it's the moose and owl wall paper I want to get for the apartment. Quick, look now man! ", and handed his phone to Otis to look at the picture. At this point, Otis only had his right hand on the steering wheel as his left hand was holding the phone. The bend in the road was particularly tight and Otis lost control of the car. He swerved and over corrected, resulting in the car smashing into the barrier on the other side of the road. At that same point, the recently retired medical practitioner, Dr Zhivago and his wife, Mabel were approaching from the opposite direction. Dr Zhivago could not stop in time and his car ran into the Volvo that Otis and the other passengers were in. Miraculously Dr Zhivago was not injured and his wife sustained only some whiplash. However he could see that passengers in the Volvo had each sustained serious injuries and that Otis and Lola were clearly unconscious as there were no airbags in such an old car. Mabel told Dr Zhivago to get out and go and help the passengers but Dr Zhivago did not want to because he had heard of a case where a doctor helped some passengers in a car accident and got run over. He reluctantly administered CPR to Lola and she commenced breathing again and gained consciousness. However, during his administration of CPR, Dr Zhivago broke two of Lola's ribs. Taking into account the above facts discuss, with reasons and supporting authorities (caselaw and legislation), Otis' liability in the tort of negligence. In your answer, also discuss whether there is any contributory negligence by any of the parties. Confine your answer to case law and legislation relevant to the tort of negligence. Marks will not be awarded for discussing any issues relating to criminal law. END OF EXAMINATION