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.
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Apparently we are all making claims for compensation.  As soon as the slightest thing happens to us we want to be compensated.  In fact, the situation has got so bad that no-one dare let us do anything now in case we get the smallest of ‘injuries’ and put in a claim.  Worse still, apparently people are getting compensation without having to prove any wrong-doing on the other sides’ part or with the flimsiest of evidence.  And this is all because lawyers keep telling us to make claims on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis.  Well, that is what the media would have us believe at least.  So are we gripped in a ‘compensation culture’ that is worsening the society we live in?

I would say definitely not.  You simply cannot be compensated unless you have a real injury, and this was caused by someone else’s negligence.  Certainly, if you are making a claim for compensation owing to a personal injury, you will need evidence, such as a medical report, to support your injury.  And even then, you (well, your lawyers) will need to demonstrate that you were injured because of someone else’s negligent action(s).

And further, what would a lawyer get from taking on a claim that will never succeed on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ basis?  If you do not win your claim they do not get paid.  And how is a lawyer going to get paid for winning your case, if your injury is not real and you and was not caused by the fault of a negligent third party?  Here at The Injury Lawyers we work on a Genuine No Win, No Fee which means that we never charge you – ever!  That means there would be absolutely nothing in it for us at all to take on a claim that has no chance of succeeding.  We would therefore never encourage this.
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Supermarkets are one of those places that you either love visiting or dread visiting.  There are many reasons why people would like going to the supermarket: there is the fact that everything is under the one roof, there are discounts galore and there is lots of choice. This being said however, there are also many reasons for the alternate view of these being the queuing at the tills, the queuing to get in and out of the car park, and the general hassle of walking around a large supermarket.

Whatever your views of supermarkets, I could hazard a guess that it is the last thing on your mind that you will have an accident whilst shopping in one that was not your fault.  Now you may think, like many of our clients first think and later succeed with their claims, that claiming against a supermarket is a David v Goliath type situation: i.e. it is the small individual vs. the large corporation. This is why firms like The Injury Lawyers are here – to use our know-how and expertise to help you get the result you need. Whoever the claim is against, whether it be against an individual or a large corporation, the system of claiming is the same, so there should be no hesitancy regarding bringing your claim based on the fact that the defendant is a supermarket.

Supermarkets like anywhere else have a duty to protect their customers as far as is reasonably possible. They must also abide by strict Health and Safety Regulations. Supermarkets should train their staff in order to help keep their customers safe.  This may involve training in replenishing shelving safely, training in how to deal with a spillage, or staff rotas to ensure the floors of aisles are free of items that may cause a hazard at all times.  There are many potential hazards in supermarkets; these being spillages causing a slip hazard, items negligently left on the floor of an aisle causing a trip hazard, or poorly stacked items on shelving falling on top of a person.
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At The Injury Lawyers we often get asked whether a child is able to make a claim for compensation.  We have therefore prepared this short guide to hopefully answer all your questions regarding claims for compensation which involve children.

Who constitutes a child?

Legally speaking, a child, or a ‘minor’, is a person under the age of 18.

Can a child bring a claim on their own accord for a personal injury they have suffered?

As with any accident, a person must make a claim for compensation within three years of the date of the accident.  A child under the age of 18 however cannot make a claim for compensation by themselves.  As such, where a child is injured through no fault of their own, they are able to make a claim for compensation up until their 21^st birthday.  However, as we at The Injury Lawyers are well aware, many people wish to make a claim for their child sooner; after all, events are fresh in their minds and it would make sense to get the situation dealt with as soon as possible.  In this situation a child is able to make a claim for compensation through a ‘litigation friend’; in other words, a responsible adult who can act on the child’s behalf.  In most cases this will be the child’s parent or guardian.  Equally though it could be some other trusted adult.
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The roads seem to be getting busier and more chaotic than they ever have previously been.   The chaotic nature of the roads, coupled with the fact people seem to be forever rushing somewhere with lots on their minds, means that accidents can be more likely to happen. Driving without the necessary due care and attention can lead to accidents. If you have been involved in an accident and it was not your fault then you may have a claim for compensation.

Many clients who come to us after being in an accident that was not their fault have been diagnosed with, or are suffering from the symptoms of whiplash.

Whiplash is caused by the sudden jolting of the head which results in the tendons and ligaments of the neck being forced to move past their normal range.  Symptoms of whiplash usually occur between 6-12 hours after the accident and then can increase in severity for up to one week (or more). These symptoms can include tenderness, pain and swelling in the neck, or reduced or even no mobility in the neck.  The sufferer may also experience regular headaches which they did not have previous to the accident. The pain in the neck may even radiate to the shoulders and down the back.  More information regarding the symptoms of whiplash can be found at www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Whiplash.
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I think nowadays people are more aware of their rights when it comes to making a personal injury claim. This may be due to an increase of television/radio/web adverts covering personal injury companies and/or the heightened awareness of claiming in general.

However, with this in consideration, many clients when they first approach us here at The Injury Lawyers are unsure whether they have a genuine claim. This is why we write these posts; to inform potential claimants that they may have a proper claim for compensation to make and to not wait until its too late.
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Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) , which can also be known Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD) is a general, umbrella term which relates to the pain suffered from the overuse and repetitive use of muscles, tendons and nerves.  It is reported that 1 worker out of 50 in the UK has reported an RSI injury. It is workers whose careers involve the use of computers or some sort of manual work who are most likely to suffer from a RSI.

There are two types of RSI – Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is where the doctor can diagnose a recognised medical condition, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, as there is usually some kind of swelling or inflammation.  With Type 2, the doctor is unable to diagnose a medical condition as there is no obvious swelling but the sufferer is reporting pain in the affected area.  Symptoms can vary but can include cramping, swelling, pain, or tenderness in muscles or joints, throbbing and/ or tingling and numbness.

Employers in the UK are under a legal obligation to prevent incidents of RSI wherever reasonably possible; this is through the Safety Act of 1974 and the Safety at Work Regulations 1999.  If you think you are suffering from an RSI as a result of your occupation, then you may have a claim for compensation. A particular RSI case comes to mind whereby an RAF data input clerk aged in her 20’s sued the Ministry of Defence for her RSI injury which stemmed from her occupation. The clerk suffered the RSI in her thumb and was unable to continue full time work in her current employment – the clerk received £434,000 in compensation for her injury.
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Some of us love work, and some of us dread going into work. But I would probably guess that not many of us anticipate having an accident at work which is not our fault.

There are many potential accidents that could happen at work.  Some of the main types of accidents we deal with here at The Injury Lawyers involve falling from a height, heavy lifting, industrial disease (such as Vibration White Finger), a lack of/insufficient work equipment which results in an accident, or a lack of/insufficient safety equipment which results in a lack of protection from a foreseeable hazard – leading to an accident.

It can be a mentally difficult task to claim against your employer. However, it must be bourne in mind that solicitors are here to act on your behalf, and employers must have insurance to cover these types of situations.  If you have had an injury and it was your employers fault then you have a right to bring a claim for compensation if you so wish and you should not be treated adversely whilst at work due to your claim. In fact, there is nothing your employer can legally do to adversely affect your employment, and we find that many employers are happy for you to make a claim from the insurance policy they have in place for this very reason.
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A lot of people are concerned and confused when it comes to thinking about making a claim – particularly in accidents involving slips and trips. I suppose the reason is that many people simply aren’t sure whether they can make a claim after being involved in a slip or trip accident. Furthermore, people genuinely feel a little “silly” about making a claim for such a seemingly “small” accident.

It’s better to approach the entire situation in a different way: your slip / trip accident is not in any way “silly” or “small” – particularly if you have been seriously hurt. At the end of the day, if you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you have a claim for compensation.

Any shop, restaurant, cafe, bar, club, pub, museum – any premises which you are allowed to freely access – involves a duty of care owed to you by the owners of the place you are in. The premises must be safe to use, and no hazards should be allowed to develop and endanger anyone in the area. It’s an obvious and sensible piece of legislation – without this important duty of care in place, no one would be responsible for preventing anyone from coming to harm.
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It would appear that people like you and me have become so fed up with potholes that we are taking things into our own hands and attempting to repair them ourselves.  According to BBC News a series of websites have been set up to combat potholes.  For example, Potholes.co.uk details the locations of potholes and has links people can use to help notify the council of the potholes.  Such is the craze on this website that there was even a poem competition dedicated to potholes! And here is the winning poem:

‘When almost dusk and light turns grey, potholes greedily grasp their prey’.

The BBC news also reports that the website FillThatHole has seen its users report nearly 50,000 potholes, and as a result, nearly 15,000 of these have been fixed.  Granted, this is some way short of all the potholes being fixed; but it is something and can go a long way to ensuring that people do not get injured or damage their vehicles as a result of these potholes.  And further, as a FillThatHole spokesman has commented, ‘it places extra onus on councils to fix the problem because it is in the public domain’.  In other words, the council know about the problem and should adhere to their duty to ensure the safety of its highway users and get it fixed ASAP.
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