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Well to start, what is whiplash? Whiplash is an injury that affects the neck, back, and shoulders (commonly). The actual whiplash injury is caused by the soft tissue in the neck back and shoulders being stretched and strained after a sudden jolt or movement. Whiplash can occur in slips and trips but is mainly an injury which results from a road traffic accident.

Some whiplash injuries are quite minor and resolve in a matter of weeks – however client’s with moderate whiplash symptoms can be suffering for a lot longer than this. A lot of people see whiplash as a minor injury but whiplash can be severely debilitating.

Client’s with moderate whiplash symptoms are significantly restricted in their movement and experience constant pain and stiffness for quite some time. This type of whiplash injury can result in cervical discs or nerve roots being damaged and even fractures in the neck. This can result in surgery being necessary to rectify this damage.
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Turning 17, these days, just means one thing – you can now learn to drive! The independence, the freedom, and the confidence that can come with driving makes learning to drive one of the most beneficial things to do. As a driver myself, I often say to people who are looking to start learning that it will be the best thing they ever invest time and money in.

The requirements of learning to drive are quite simple:

• You must hold a provisional driving licence
• You must be supervised when driving by a driving instructor or someone over the age of 21 who has held a full driving license for at least 3 years
• You must display “L” plates

Your driving instructor or supervisor has a duty to ensure that you are driving in a safe manner and therefore learner drivers should feel in safe hands when learning to drive: but the person sitting next to you in the car is not normally the problem.
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As a pedestrian, a motor vehicle is a dangerous piece of machinery. The consequences are often devastating when a pedestrian and a vehicle come together in an accident.

Placing fault for an accident involving a pedestrian and a vehicle often depends on the individual circumstances. The main questions to be asked would be what was the speed of the vehicle? When or how quickly did the pedestrian step into the road? And was the driver aware of their surroundings?

Even though a pedestrian could step out suddenly, not giving the vehicle time to react, the law is very pedestrian friendly. With that I mean that the law seems to be built around placing the blame or most of it, on the motorist.
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The ability to overtake stationary traffic and skip to the front has got to be one of the most beneficial aspects of riding a motorcycle. I know I would love to do this on my way to work some mornings!

However, it can be fraught with hazards due to other road users or even the carelessness of the rider. The main reason for this would be that drivers of vans, cars and lorries can fail to check their mirrors and surroundings properly before making a manoeuvre. Obviously as a motorcyclist you are more difficult to detect in traffic; however other road users checking properly, and not just glancing, can avoid accidents.

Unfortunately people can look but not see or register what is there and this is one of the main causes of accidents for people riding motorcycles. The most common circumstance, involving motorcyclists, is that of a motorcyclist overtaking stationary traffic and a vehicle pulls out of the line of traffic to turn or to change lanes.
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Being involved in a road traffic accident is not a very nice experience. If you have sustained injury as a result of a road traffic accident which was not your fault then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Road traffic accidents can occur in many different circumstances.

I am not surprised by the number of road traffic accidents, just drive during the rush hour and you can see why there are so many accidents on Britain’s roads. Most days I see people driving while on a mobile phone, driving too fast or driving too close to the car in front. It is maddening when you see this kind of driving behaviour. It is easy to become annoyed and this can make the situation worse as you should be calm and attentive while driving.

Typical accidents include rear end shunts and accidents at roundabouts. Accidents can also be caused as a result of vehicles changing lanes. Road traffic accidents can of course be fatal. You can bring a claim whether you were the driver of a vehicle or a passenger. In fact if you were a passenger then it could be said that it is more straightforward as it is difficult to see how a passenger could ever be at fault for a road traffic accident.
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Roundabouts can be very daunting, especially ones that seem to have never ending amounts of exits! The markings for lanes and exits can be very confusing and therefore accidents which happen on roundabouts are unfortunately one of the most common types of road traffic accidents we deal with here at The Injury Lawyers.

The common circumstances on a roundabout are vehicles pulling onto the roundabout when it is unclear to do so, vehicles changing lanes to exit the roundabout, and also vehicles continuing around the roundabout in the wrong lane which causes accident’s when other vehicles are trying to exit.

The Highway Code provides some general rules on the use of roundabouts, however, even when following these instructions, accidents can still occur as other road users can be careless.
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You may not be surprised to hear that whiplash claims are one of the most common types of personal injury claims. Whiplash claims unfortunately seem to attract a lot of bad press as well.

However anyone who has ever suffered a whiplash type injury will know that whiplash can cause a great deal of pain, discomfort and inconvenience. Whiplash is a genuine injury and an injury which is compensatable in law. I believe the main difficulty or the reason why whiplash claims receives such a bad press is due to the perceived difficulty in diagnosing the condition.

If you have sustained whiplash following a road traffic accident then it is your right to claim compensation.
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A moped is a motorcycle that has a maximum design speed of approximately 31 miles per hour and can be driven on the road at the age of 16 with a provisional licence and “L” plates. Making these vehicles extremely popular with teenagers. They are a perfect for teenagers who are starting to gain their independence.

However, as with motorcycles, they are involved in a high number of accidents on the road. How, if they can only go 31mph? Well the answer is that mainly mopeds are involved in accidents due to other road users who are not looking and checking mirrors properly.

The main scenarios include vehicles pulling out of a side road into a moped which is correctly proceeding on the main road, vehicles pulling out of stationary traffic whilst a moped is attempting to overtake the stationary traffic, and vehicles changing lanes when a moped is travelling at the side of them.
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Generally speaking if Driver B caused their vehicle to crash into the back of Driver A’s vehicle, then Driver B would be at fault.

This is, of course, a typical rear end shunt scenario whereby liability is usually attached to the driver who drove their vehicle into collision with the vehicle in front.

As a driver myself, this must be the correct decision as you have no control over the vehicle that’s driving behind you. However, in some strange and unusual circumstances, Driver A in the above scenario could be held at fault.
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Please note that the information below is provided as a rough guide to how much whiplash injury claimss can be worth. Settlements should always be based on medical evidence to avoid the risk of under settling. Please do not take the below information as a definite value for your claim – always speak with a solicitor.

The JSB (Judicial Studies Board) whiplash guidelines provide rough estimates to what you could expect to receive when suffering from a whiplash type injury. As you will see, the brackets are rather wide ranging- this is because, realistically, nobody can EVER know how much your claim is worth prior to medical evidence. This is to avoid what is known as “under settling”.
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