Road Accident Claims

Road Traffic Accidents – the motorway

Motorways – some people love motorway driving, whilst others avoid it at all costs. People may enjoy motorway driving as it gets you where you want to be quicker, whilst (mostly) avoiding traffic and traffic lights. Others may dread motorway driving as it needs a certain level of heightened skill, confidence, and concentration – with travelling at such high speeds you cannot afford to lose concentration for a second, and this can make many people nervous of it.  I personally used to always set the sat nav to ‘avoid motorways’ however currently driving to work I cannot go by any other route (that will not take me hours).  Due to this I have gained experience in motorway driving and have come to enjoy it.  Whatever your feelings on the motorway, it would be the last thought on your mind that you would have an accident that was not your fault.

If you have had an accident on the motorway and it was not your fault then you may have a claim for compensation.  Accidents on the motorway can be due to people not maintaining the necessary care and attention which is needed even more so for this type of driving. Accidents on a motorway can occur for a number of reasons as listed below, I have listed two of the main ones below:

Not leaving space: Many accidents occur on the motorway as cars are simply driving too closely together. Going at such high speeds, if/when there is a queue ahead or someone breaks suddenly there is no time to stop before hitting the car in front.  Accidents such as these have a heightened occurrence at motorway junctions where, at times of peak traffic, queues can back up and cause collisions. Some motorways have the chevron markings on the road and advise to cars to keep a certain number of chevrons distance from the car in front. If you are hit from behind whilst on the motorway, or any road, the chance, you are pretty much guaranteed a successful claim.

Not indicating or checking rear view mirrors – whilst on the motorway you may need to change lanes a lot to overtake slower traffic, such as heavy goods vehicles. Now everyone knows the mirror signal manoeuvre process should be completed. However, many people may be driving whilst tired and not paying the necessary care and attention and so may not check their mirrors properly – thus causing a collision.

So: Always take extra care on the motorways.