Pedestrian crossings are in place to help people safely and successfully cross over a road. On busy roads they are very useful as I find that the majority (unfortunately not all) drivers will stop to let pedestrians cross. Unfortunately not all drivers stop and it can be infuriating for the pedestrians when this occurs.

Unfortunately there will always be some drivers who don’t consider others. Even if the road is not necessarily a busy road, I would still recommend that you use a pedestrian crossing to get to the other side. Basically if you want to cross a road and there is a pedestrian crossing in sight or somewhere close by, you should use it. Put simply, if you cross and are involved in an accident then you may be partly at fault for not crossing in the safest area (i.e. the safest area would be the pedestrian crossing).

If you failed to use a pedestrian crossing and you subsequently became injured in an accident, the other side are likely to argue that you are partly at fault for your injuries by not using the pedestrian crossing. This is an allegation of contributory negligence and if agreed or found by a Court, then your damages would be reduced accordingly. If you are not found to be fully at fault, you can still claim compensation. If contributory negligence is agreed at, say 20%, there would be a 20% deduction in any damages that you would receive. In some cases (depending on the severity of the injuries) this kind of deduction could amount to thousands of pounds…
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Accidents in sports centres are more common than most people realise. Unless you work in a law firm you probably do not realise the amount of accidents and enquiries that we receive to do with sports centres. Accidents in sports centres (and in particular at the gym) are fairly common. Perhaps one of the main reasons for the increase in accidents is the increase in people attending the gym.

It is the responsibility of the owners of gyms and leisure centres to ensure that the premises are safe for the public to use and to eliminate any potential risks. The owners leave themselves open to personal injury claims if they do not provide a safe environment for the public.

Gym injuries could occur for a variety of reasons. There are the obvious accidents such as people slipping on a wet floor or tripping over mats or equipment. Injuries can occur through use of gym equipment especially if the person was not given any instruction on how to use certain equipment. When you start at a gym, if you are not familiar with the equipment, then you should be given a formal induction whereby you are shown how to use all the facilities in a safe and proper manner. Most gyms will insist on a mandatory induction even if you have used previous gyms in the past. If you are lifting weights for example, you can easily sustain injury if you do not use the correct procedure or technique.
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This is a topic I feel I can advise you on with relative ease and compassion. For the sake of example, I will focus on ruptured knee and ankle ligaments, although it can apply to most other ligaments in the body. Having been through multi ligament rupture from a traumatic dislocation of the knee, I think I know a thing or two about the trials and tribulations involved when suffering with such an injury! Hopefully my experience and advice can help you too.

First and foremost, rupturing ligaments is normally bad news. Torn ligaments that are surgically repaired do not always heal well, so rupturing one normally requires some form of reconstruction surgery. Sadly that means suffering for months with an injury and a huge stretch in physiotherapy.

The wonders of medical science today mean that you don’t have to lose a limb when rupturing ligaments. A ligament rupture is usually defined by a ligament completely breaking to the point where it has been separated. It is not a case of just stitching it back together like you can with a bone; bone on bone heals normally quite well, but a ligament normally needs to be reconstructed.
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Here at The Injury Lawyers we deal with all types of personal injury claims. We deal solely with claims for injury. We have a team of specialist personal injury lawyers who strive to bring your claim to a swift and successful conclusion. We deal with all types of work accidents including tripping and slipping accidents, accidents involving scaffolding, work equipment accidents, industrial diseases etc. If you have sustained injury (or developed an industrial disease) as a result of an accident at work then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Many people are reluctant to bring a claim against their employer, particularly in the current economic climate. While this is certainly understandable, employers are required to have employer’s liability insurance which is in place for the sole purpose of paying out compensation to injured victims, such as yourself. It is your right to make a claim but equally it is your right to make the decision on whether to make a claim or not. It is your right to make a claim and your right to decide whether or not to exercise that right to claim. In some situations you may no longer work for that company or employer and therefore you may want to bring a claim. However you should note that the right to claim is not open indefinitely.

For general accidents at work you normally have 3 years (from the date of the accident itself) to either settle your claim or issue Court Proceedings for English / Welsh jurisdiction. If Court Proceedings are not issued within this 3 year limitation period then you may lose your right to claim compensation. Therefore it is always prudent to bring a claim as soon as possible if you have sustained injury and if you want to claim.
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If you have been involved in a road traffic accident that was not your fault, but you were not wearing a seatbelt, can you still make a claim for compensation? Put simply, the answer is yes – you can still make a claim for compensation providing the accident was not your fault. This applies whether you were a driver or a passenger.

The likelihood is that the Defendant will argue contributory negligence applies. However contributory negligence is not a complete defence to a claim. It is a partial defence which, if found, would reduce the amount of compensation that you receive. Contributory negligence is basically the Defendant alleging that you were partly to blame for causing or contributing to the accident or to your injuries (or to the severity of your injuries). In this case it means that your injuries may be more severe as a result of your negligence in failing to wear a seat belt, which is breaking the law.

Contributory negligence would be argued in terms of a percentage. The Defendant may argue that you are 20% responsible. What would this mean in terms of any compensation awarded? For example purposes let’s say that your claim is valued, on a full liability basis, at £2,000. If contributory negligence was agreed at 20%, you would not receive 100% of your compensation; you would receive the remaining 80% (20% deducted). So in the example given you would receive £1,600 (£2,000 minus 20% for contributory negligence). Where contributory negligence is agreed or found by a Court of law, your compensation would be deducted accordingly.
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Accepting pre medical offers is NOT advisable – and this advice is coming from a firm of specialist personal injury lawyers. The reason for this is that the valuation of your claim cannot be determined without proper medical evidence. You need to attend an appointment and have a suitable expert produce a Medico-legal report; so nipping to see your own GP doesn’t count! A pre medical offer is just that – an offer before medical evidence is obtained. Hence: pre medical.

Put it this way – would you buy a car without having a test drive or even knowing what it looks like? Would you buy a house without knowing where it is, or the condition of the premises? Would you as a football manager buy a striker without any background knowledge of whether they can even manage to put the ball in the net? Would you buy a Christmas tree without knowing what it looks like? I could go on forever…

The relevance of this is – would you accept money for an injury claim when you don’t know how much is it actually worth? Well, if the answer to all the questions in the paragraph above is no, the answer to this question should also be no!
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The festive season is very much upon us; but unfortunately, just because the decorations are up, doesn’t mean that the amount of accidents occurring goes down. At this time of year the roads can be treacherous and therefore accidents are more likely to occur and unfortunately result in nasty injuries to nurse over the festive period. This of course is the last thing you want to happen at this time of year when you’ve got the office Christmas party coming up or you’re travelling to see family and therefore you may wish to start a claim for compensation.

HOWEVER! Insurance companies know that at this time of year money can be tight and therefore take this opportunity to try and settle many claims for compensation directly and cheaply – for them!

This is known as third party capture and does not fill us with festive cheer here at The Injury Lawyers.

Third party capture is the process of the defendants insurance company contacting you directly to settle a claim. Of course, being offered money straight off is always a nice thing but it is important to properly consider the implications of accepting such a sum.
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Being a motorcyclist can be fraught with hazards due to other road users. 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.

The most common of these manoeuvres is a vehicle turning right when a motorcyclist is overtaking.

The Highway Code states that when changing lanes or turning right then the “mirror, signal and manoeuvre” rule applies.

Therefore, drivers should, in these circumstances:

• Check their mirrors for other traffic, especially motorcyclists.
• Signal their intention to change lanes or turn right
• Carry out the manoeuvre in a safe fashion

However, motorcyclists have the same duty of care as other road users so who is at fault in a situation such as this.
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‘Tis the season to be jolly‘! With less than 3 weeks until Christmas, the decs are up and the presents are (probably) bought and we are all feeling a little cash strapped for the rest of the festive season. This is the perfect opportunity for insurance companies to save themselves a great deal of money; at your expense!

Here at The Injury Lawyers, we call it Pre Medical Offer Season. Basically, as the insurers know we are all in need of a little extra cash over the festive period, they go mad for making pre medical offers to people in the hope to settle the claim for a potentially low sum by feeding on the need people have for more money during the Christmas period. They do it when you have a lawyer, or even without.

You will be offered something like £1,000 to settle the claim now. They’ll promise you a cheque within days, and hopefully it can clear before it’s too late to hit the shops for Christmas or the January sales. It’s extremely tempting to anyone. The trade off though is that you may be under settling your claim. The only way we can properly value your claim for compensation is with proper solid medical evidence. If you don’t have medical evidence, no one can properly value your claim. A pre medical offer is an offer to settle the claim in full and final in the absence of medical evidence. So it’s a literal shot in the dark so to speak.
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Although this seems quite humorous at first, having a road traffic accident involving a cow can be extremely serious! After all, they are pretty big (and sturdy) animals!

However, they can be very difficult claims as to be able to successfully claim compensation you have to prove that someone has been negligent in allowing the animals to escape onto the public highway, for example. Therefore, if the animal is wild it is going to be extremely difficult as, to be honest, you will face significant difficulties in suing a cow!

So, say the animal does have an owner, which given it’s a cow we shall safely assume it does, you still have to prove that the owner was negligent. Therefore, you would need to establish that the farmer had not taken reasonable steps to make sure the animal does not escape. For example: not locked a gate properly. However, this can become difficult if the farmer has been victim to vandalism as this would  be out of their control and therefore they may have been considered to take all steps necessary such as having appropriate fencing and unfortunately a third party has come and destroyed this. If an employee of the farmer was negligent, the farmer can still be vicariously liable.
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