The bid of a former Norwood man to sue the West Tamar Council over a fatal crash in which he was the driver in 1994 has failed.
Associate Justice Stephen Holt this morning dismissed the application by Mathew Peter Guest to have the time frame for him to pursue legal action extended.
Mr Guest, 36, was 18-years-old when the car he was driving lost control at the top of a steep drop on Rowsphorn Road in Riverside and slid down the hill, killing his two passengers.
He argued that the crash was caused by the council's negligence.
In November, Mr Guest told the court in Launceston that there were no signs on the road to warn that a 45 degree incline was coming, and the road had just ``dropped away in front of me''.
He was diagnosed in 2008 with post-traumatic stress disorder arising from the crash and applied to the Supreme Court in Tasmania in July last year to have the three-year legal window extended.
Associate Justice Holt found that it was likely Mr Guest would win the case if allowed to sue, and denying him that right might be seen as an injustice.
But he said that Mr Guest had known that the crash caused him physical and mental distress and suspected negligence on behalf of the council for the past 17 years, and had ``brought the injustice upon himself by reason of his delay.''
Mr Guest was ordered to pay the council's costs.