2025 Contract Law Question 4 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer

Scenario summary

Kelly runs a go-kart business, Kelly Go-Karts. Anyone who wants to take a kart onto the track must first sign a contract, and among its terms is an exemption clause.

The clause says, in substance, that the business is not liable for any injury caused to a guest by the operation of its karts “howsoever arising”, where it can be established that the guest has taken any alcohol or has been “instructed to take medication under medical supervision” — whether or not on prescription — and it purports to apply “regardless of whether the alcohol or medication was a causal element” of the harm.

Una came as a guest and signed. She did not read the contract, and nobody drew her attention to the exemption clause in particular.

Through Kelly’s negligence, one of the wheels on Una’s kart had been incorrectly fitted. It came off as she drove. She was thrown from the kart, landed on the ground and broke her leg.

In hospital Una mentioned that the day before she had seen her doctor about a migraine, and that he had recommended she take two over-the-counter painkillers, available at any chemist, every four hours. She had taken them just before going onto the track. Kelly now denies liability for her own negligence on the strength of the clause.

Candidates are asked to advise Una whether the exemption clause is effective under the law of contract.

This is a LawShortcut scenario summary written in our own words. For the exact examined wording, use the official King’s Inns paper linked above.