A second member of Tyler McGlashan’s family has begun legal proceedings, claiming her life was devastated after the teenager’s alleged negligence caused the motorbike crash that killed him.
Kasey Paynting, 40, identified in court documents as Tyler’s stepmother, filed the writ in the Supreme Court of Victoria last week.
Her action comes days after the Daily Mail reported that Tyler’s father, Lucas McGlashan, had launched a separate civil claim over the same fatal collision.
Tyler, 18, died on March 9, 2022, after losing control of his motorbike and crashing into a trailer near Lockwood, north of Bendigo.
The statement of claim says he was approaching the intersection with Bendigo-Maryborough Road when the crash occurred.
Ms Paynting alleges she arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and witnessed Tyler die.
Emergency workers, police and bystanders performed CPR on Tyler for 35 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
Ms Paynting claims the tragedy caused post-traumatic stress disorder, severe adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, prolonged grief disorder, worsening anxiety and depression, mental harm and nervous shock.
Kasey Paynting has launched a claim against the TAC after witnessing her stepson’s death
Tyler, 18, died on March 9, 2022, after losing control of his motorbike and hitting a trailer
She is suing the Transport Accident Commission, or TAC, as the insurer indemnifying the deceased under section 94 of the Transport Accident Act 1986.
The claim alleges Tyler owed a duty of care to other road users, including people at the scene, and breached that duty.
The alleged breaches include failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to give way to the vehicle and trailer, travelling at an inappropriate speed and “creating a situation of danger and emergency”.
Ms Paynting is seeking damages for lost earnings, reduced earning capacity and lost superannuation.
She is represented by Australian personal injury law firm Slater and Gordon, which declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail.
In the writ, obtained by the Daily Mail from the court, Ms Paynting says she had to postpone starting work as an early childhood educator after the crash and has since been forced to reduce her working hours.
The TAC has already covered her medical expenses, so no compensation is being sought for those costs.
The case has been entered in the Personal Injuries List and is scheduled to be heard by a judge alone in Bendigo.
Kasey Paynting and Lucas McGlashan are pursuing separate claims against the TAC
Lucas McGlashan (right) is also suing Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission over the death of his 18-year-old son Tyler (left)
Her husband, Lucas McGlashan, has made similar allegations after also witnessing Tyler’s death.
The former bricklayer says he has been unable to work consistently since the crash and is now receiving a disability support pension.
In the six months before Tyler died, both Mr McGlashan and Tyler’s grandfather had been undergoing cancer treatment.
Mr McGlashan had spent time in a coma and was unable to work.
A GoFundMe appeal established after the crash said Tyler had only recently learned that his father’s life-saving cancer treatment had been successful.
Tyler had been riding motorbikes since he was three and was preparing to start the third year of a plumbing apprenticeship with a Bendigo company.
A fundraising campaign to help pay for his funeral raised $9,250 from 150 donors, against a target of $10,000.
Friends and relatives remembered the teenager as energetic and full of life.
Tyler McGlashan’s death (right) devastated his family
Tyler McGlashan’s death continues to haunt those who witnessed the crash
Tyler McGlashan’s father and stepmother say his death has left them unable to work consistently
Cases in which a parent sues the TAC after their child’s allegedly reckless or negligent driving causes the child’s death and the parent suffers psychiatric injury are extremely uncommon.
In June 2010, Mahmoud Homsi, 26, died in a car crash caused solely by his own negligence.
His mother, Iman Homsi, was informed of his death by telephone soon afterwards and developed a severe psychiatric injury.
She obtained a serious injury certificate from the TAC before suing her late son’s estate, which effectively meant pursuing the TAC, for damages relating to her psychiatric injury.
Supreme Court Justice John Forrest dismissed the claim.
The TAC has not yet filed a defence to Ms Paynting’s claim.