Road traffic accidents are the most common cases when it comes to claims for personal injury. The reason is that they do happen all of the time. Britain’s roads are busy; and it’s so easy for a crash to happen. Thankfully, most collisions are minor in nature; however, there are occasions when a big crash leaves the victims with severe injuries, and sadly there are the occasions where fatalities occur.
I recently authored an article related to claims for children. So in a story I came across today which combines both a serious road traffic accident and young children, the potential for devastation can be understood.
According to reports in the Daily Mirror (source), a horrific head on collision between a bus packed full of school children and a car has resulted in tragic fatalities and several injured. According to the source, the accident on Tuesday was a “horrific scene” following a collision between a bus and a car, which caused the car to spin off and collide with another car, and the bus to collide with a tree. The cause of the crash appears to be unknown, however police are involved. According to attending police, one car had to be cut apart by fire crews, and, so far, reports confirm that the drivers of both the bus and the car in the initial collision have sadly lost their lives.
Witnesses to the accident reported hearing a loud bang and seeing several children in shock and tears, with some showing blood and injuries from the accident. A 16 year old male and a woman in her 50’s have reportedly sustained serious injuries; the 16 year old male was cut free from the wreckage due to his legs been trapped, and is said to be improving in hospital with his condition described as non-life-threatening.
The report also goes on to say of the help from Rita and Bob Telford, witnesses to the accident, whom kindly brought several of the injured youngsters into their home to be treated by paramedics, and provided refreshments to the traumatised victims. Ambulance commander Chris Bearne stated “The scene was complete carnage and was quite distressing for the paramedics there. They were met with around 30 patients, of whom several were schoolchildren and they were obviously very upset.”
This is a tragic accident, and from the information in the report it appears to be a miracle that no one else was seriously injured or were killed in the accident. It seems the whole incident could have been a lot worse; thankfully, it wasn’t. I just hope they all make a speedy recover, and are able to move on from this tragic accident.
So what happens here when it comes to claims for compensation? Well, the report does not specifically provide information on who is at fault for the accident. In the vast majority of road traffic collisions, there is always one driver at fault whom has caused the accident through negligence. Once the negligent driver has been established, claims for compensation can be brought against his/her insurers for the suffering endured.
When it comes to claims for passengers (such as in the instance above), they are very straight forward to settle. Passengers in the vast, vast, vast, majority of circumstances could not have done anything to prevent or contribute to the accident, and are usually therefore passengers are guaranteed to be compensated for their injuries. If the passenger was simply a passenger involved in a road traffic accident, then they have a claim for compensation – and they will receive a compensation payout.
So, my best advice of course is that if you are the victim of a road traffic accident, speak to an independent firm of expert personal injury lawyers for the best advice and representation for claiming for compensation.
