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Hope you had a lovely…incident free…New Year and are ready and raring to go for 2010!

Unfortunately, as you have all probably seen the cold weather is still upon us and appears to be worse than ever. Temperatures dropped below freezing and many of us seeing snow showers (some more than others!), it’s not the warmest welcome to 2010 I have to say.

I know it may seem that we keep ‘banging on’ about how dangerous the cold weather is but that’s because it is a daily reality and the ongoing cold weather can only lead to more problems on our roads. We want our blog readers to be as safe as they can be over the next few weeks.

Sky News have this evening reported on only a small handful of incidents around the country due to the snow and ice which is causing havoc on Britain’s roads.
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We all feel that we have been let down by our local health authority on some occasion whether it be the length of time you had to wait for your appointment or being told that you can’t have an appointment for ‘X’ number of weeks.

For some people they only know too well how it feels to be let down by the people whom you should be able to rely on the most.

The family of a patient under the care of Hywel Dda Health Board (Carmarthenshire Local Health Board) will be the first to tell you of their disappointment of the care provided to their severely injured son.

The young gentleman whom is only being referred to as ‘Mr B’ was left with serious brain injuries after being assaulted in July 2006. He was hospitalised for 10 months and required 24 hour nursing care.
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We have more on negligent drivers and near serious accidents on Britain’s roads – which all come during our big freeze which I am not going to write about, as I am sure you are all quite tired of the same press coverage on the issue, and my many recent articles on the subject!

Ashley Cole and a Swiss millionaire – two people I recently wrote about in my articles related to speeding offences. Well how do these new names grab you – Harriet Harman and Jermaine Defoe. One is the Labour Party Deputy Leader and the other is a well known striker for Spurs. Both have been recently convicted of driving offences:

According to The Sun (source) Harriet Harman has pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention – she has been fined £350 and ordered to pay £75 worth of costs, and a victim surcharge of £15. She has also received three points on her driver’s license. Not the heaviest of penalties; my only hope are these fines don’t turn up on her next MP  expense claim form!
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So the arctic conditions are continuing and the freezing temperatures have frozen the snow layered grounds causing what I am going to describe as ridiculously slippery conditions! Just this morning walking to my car (no more than 40 metres) was an epic battle as maintaining my footing and the pathway was difficult at best. The ice was around an inch thick alone, and not fun to walk (or should I say, skate) on.

So, what’s the best thing to do if you must use your vehicle? The BBC has very handily provided some solid advice for motorists on how to prepare for a journey out in to the snow:
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Yes yes, I know, a number of my recent articles have been on the weather! But let’s face it, it’s the big thing at the moment and as of yesterday it just got 10 times worse here as the snow pretty much disrupted everything from businesses to schools to the mass transit system!

And I know what you may be thinking; another article on the weather – that old chestnut! But it just seems to be getting worse and worse, and the floods of weather related new claims are coming in! But it is important to know when you can and can’t claim, particularly when the weather is a major contributory factor…

Just before Christmas, our Principle Solicitor Mr. Aman Johal was requested by Sky News to comment on claiming for injuries people are sustaining due to the weather, in light of accident and emergencies reporting significant increased admissions for fractures resulting from people falling on ice! The Sky News article (source) reported that some A+E’s had to open extra operating theatres to cope with the increase.
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Speed limits are there for a reason – to keep us all safe on the roads! And it’s no secret that many road traffic accidents occur because of the speed limit being broken. So are there any excuses for people ignoring these important life saving limits? Well, unless you’re a member of the emergency services, there certainly is not!

According to BBC reports, England football star Ashley Cole is being prosecuted for speeding in his Lamborghini after he was caught by police travelling at 104mph in a 50 zone when he was caught by a laser speed camera in November last year (source).  

The Chelsea left-back, who did not appear in court, has stated to officers that he was being harassed by paparazzi when he decided to go twice over the speed limit on the A3 in Kingston. Now I can’t imagine it’s easy to be constantly followed by the press looking for a story, but it’s certainly no excuse for dangerous driving risking the lives of other road users and the local public. When Cole was stopped he informed police he was aware it was a 50 zone and claimed to have been travelling at 80mph to get away from the harassment of the paparazzi.
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I hope everybody had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! And I hope you all took the advice to stay safe over the festive period; particularly with the seemingly continuing severe weather many parts of the UK are still experiencing.

The dream of a white Christmas came true for many this year, which was a welcome sight despite the severe weather we have faced over the last month. On a similar note, according to one amazing BBC report, one group of new year celebrators were trapped in the UK’s highest pub (statistically, above sea level) for a further two nights after they were snowed in on New Years Eve! (source).

And on the subject again of the weather, news reports are advising that the weather warnings are continuing and we are possibly set to see some bad weather well in to January, with the warnings to motorists still being issued as temperatures could be set to drop as low as 15 degrees Celsius (source). According to Sky News reports, seven people were fatally injured as a result of the horrific weather in the UK in December. So the advice to stay safe and take extra care on the roads is still required!
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I certainly am! In fact, the snow that arrived over the past week was a welcome festive gift for many (all be it a little early!). That was until a little snow turned in to a huge “blizzard” of sorts for many parts of the country, causing commuters havoc and holiday-makers a nightmare!

For many parts of the country we are now at that horrible icy state; where the snow has mostly melted and all that remains is a sheet of dangerous glassy ice lining the pavements and some roads. But over the last week we have seen news flash after news flash of the chaos the weather has caused.
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Can sleep walking be dangerous for us or anyone around us?

This was such the case for Christine Thomas when her husband killed her ‘during a dream’.

The couple had been together for 40 years and enjoyed a happy marriage. In July 2008 the couple decided to take a holiday in their motor home to Aberporth, Wales.

During the night Brian Thomas dreamt that intruders had broken in to their motor home and he was fighting them to get out. Earlier in the night a group of young individuals had come in to the car park screeching their breaks and tyres. Mr and Mrs Thomas moved their motor home to the lower car park in order to have some peace and quiet but during the night Mr Thomas experienced dreams that he was being attacked and as a result he killed his wife.
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I have authored a couple of articles recently regarding drink driving and the devastating effects; something which is all the more evident during the festive season. So, here’s a little more on dangerous driving for you!

Mobile Phones

According to a BBC report (source) the figure for people using mobile phones behind the wheel of a vehicle has, interestingly and rather worryingly, increased since tougher penalties were imposed back in 2006. The figure comes from the Transport Research Laboratory which claims 2.6% of drivers used mobile phones whilst driving when the fine rose to £60 with the possibility of three points on the drivers licence in 2006, compared to the figure now which stands at 2.8%. OK, so nominally it’s a small increase; but it’s still an increase nonetheless…
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