According to sources from the Metro, an injured cyclist is suing Halfords after his mountain bike split in half at high speed, propelling him in to a metal pole and leaving him with what has been described as serious and lifelong injuries. The court heard that the bike had a ‘sudden and catastrophic failure’ that resulted in 24 year old Joseph Love with injuries that are said to have ‘wrecked his life.’
Accidents involving cyclists can often be high value given the lack of protection a bike offers when compared to something like a car, and given they can be hard to spot, road accidents involving bikers are unfortunately common. But in this case, the allegation of negligence is against Halfords, the seller of the bike, which is claimed to be ‘defective at the point of sale.’
The article goes on to say that Halfords assembled and inspected the bike prior to its sale, but a major arguing point for the victim here is the slogan that comes with the mountain bike which is that it allegedly ‘gives the trail a kicking’ – thereby suggesting that this is a robust bike when compared to ordinary cycles.
The case is ongoing, but this is set to be a huge claim given the evident serious nature of the injuries. One does not simply put in a million pound claim without being very seriously hurt! The article doesn’t go in to detail with regards to the nature of the injuries, but it’s safe to assume they are serious if the value is set to be at a seven figure sum.
So does this case have any merit to win?
Well we can’t really determine this without the full facts of the case, but I’d presume were going for a classic Sale of Goods and Services Act claim here where legislation states that:
- A service will be provided with reasonable care and skill (section 13)
- Goods will be of satisfactory quality (section 4.2)
- Goods will be fit for purpose (section 4)
As the bike appears to have gone through safety checks, the allegation appears to be (in line with what the article says) that the bike was sold defective and as such is potentially neither fit for purpose and / or of a satisfactory quality; unless they are alleging the inspection and safety checks were not done correctly. If the legal team for Mr Love can prove with evidence that the legislation here has been breached, he should have a successful claim.
As the article suggests, the court has been asked to take in to consideration the marketing slogan about the robustness of this particular cycle – and with a slogan like ‘gives the trail a kicking’ you can assume that this bike is designed to be put through some seriously tough tests and trials. So how on earth has this bicycle ended up snapping in such a way? If it is down to poor design or a defect, there may be a claim to answer to.
In these sorts of cases, one of the huge difficulties is proving that it’s a defect that has caused an accident as opposed to something beyond the seller or manufactures control.
