For a lot of teenagers their 17^th birthday is the one they look forward to the most. This is because at 17 they are allowed to apply for their provisional driving licence which means they are allowed to start having their driving lessons. There are thousands of people learning to drive every day, some in their teens, some much older.

Driving gives us a sense of freedom that we’ve never had before – it gives us the power to go where we want, when we want. It means that we don’t have to rely on other people to drive us around or hang around at bus stops in the cold weather. Along with the new found freedom driving gives us, it also gives us a responsibility.
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When we become injured in an accident that wasn’t our fault and choose to make an injury compensation claim a solicitor will look at all aspects of the accident when gathering evidence to find out who was negligent in causing the injuries. Some injury compensation claims may result in a verdict of contributory negligence.

Contributory negligence is when it is agreed, or a court decides, that the injured party in some way contributed towards the injuries they sustained. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are saying that person helped cause the accident, it may mean that their actions prior to the accident made the injuries worse than they could have been.

For example, if you become involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault and then suffer injuries due to this, the speed of your vehicle may be assessed, and whether you have been drinking may be assessed, for example. If they find that you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time the accident took place, they may hold you negligent towards your injuries for failing to do so. Stating that the seriousness of any injuries sustained could have been prevented if you had abided by the law and wore a seatbelt.

In a lot of injury compensation claims contributory negligence is used as a defence by the opposing party. In cases like this the defendant may need to prove the negligence of the claimant.

If you are looking to make an injury compensation claim and think that the other party may try and show you were negligent and contributed to your injuries, you can still make an injury compensation claim. It simply means that the amount of compensation you are rewarded could be reduced; for example, a claim that would have resulted in £10,000 compensation may be reduced to £7,500. For more information on injury claims or if you are looking to make a claim contact the Injury Lawyers.

Most motorists in the U.K have the appropriate vehicle insurance to protect them and the other party involved, in the unfortunate event that they become involved in a car accident. When you take out insurance, depending on the type of cover you choose, it covers a range of things. The most basic and cheapest kinds of insurance you can take out is third party fire and theft; however a lot of us prefer to pay out that little bit extra and have fully comprehensive insurance.

Unfortunately there are some drivers out there that disregard the need for them to have motor insurance. They may do this for a number of reasons; whatever reason they choose, they do it because they think that they won’t get caught. When we think of uninsured drivers we may think that it is extremely unlikely they we could become involved in an accident with one. However, the latest figures released show that one in ten motorists has been involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver.
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With the increase of air pollution and the bid to cut down on emissions being released into the air, more and more of us are choosing to cycle to work. Cycling to work is a great way of keeping fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It also frees cyclists from the never ending queues of congestion on the roads.

In the UK, bicycle lanes are unfortunately only on specific roads, which means that cyclists are often forced to use main roads. This can be frustrating not only for the cyclist, but also for other road users. Some road users become irritated by cyclists and see them as hogging the road or causing more traffic. One of the reasons drivers become frustrated by cyclists is because they sometime’s don’t know what to do in the presence of them – should they overtake them, should they not? Some drivers want to overtake but are unable to do so because of on-coming vehicles.
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If you have been injured in a supermarket accident that wasn’t your fault in the past three years then you may be able to make an injury compensation claim. Supermarkets must provide a duty of care towards their customers which requires them to make sure that customers in their stores are not at risk from any hazards. This applies to all supermarkets, including Asda, Morrison’s, Waitrose, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl or a local independent supermarket.

To help prevent accidents all supermarkets usually have a system in place that requires members of staff to carry out regular checks, clean up any spillages, and to keep a written record of their cleaning programme. This helps the supermarket in the instance of an accident because they can then use this as evidence to prove that they showed a duty of care in looking after their customers.
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A lot of sporting venues now offer a range of children’s parties. These types of parties normally come as part of a corporate package and allow the child whose birthday it is to choose a sport for them and their friends to take part in. When booking a birthday the parent or guardian in charge should inform staff at the sport centre how many children they are booking the party for, how old they are, and if they have any allergies they should be aware of.

After the birthday party has been booked, a birthday party host will also need to be booked to host the party. They will be informed what type of sporting activity the child has requested along with the number of children attending. Most sporting venues have a set ratio for the number of children to one coach; if there are a lot of children that are expected to attend the party, they will need more than one coach. This is to ensure that the children attending the birthday party can be supervised at all times.

Although sporting activities can be extremely fun, they can also be dangerous if the children taking part are not supervised properly. Due to the high impact of running and jumping around in sporting activities, accidents can occur. At your child’s party the coach should do everything in their power to keep any possible accidents to a minimum; this means keeping the children under control and making sure they are not at risk of any injury.
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Some of us will do everything possible to avoid driving in the hours of darkness; however, with winter approaching, that is no longer an option. A lot of us will now be going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark – mixed with the miserable weather these winter drives can create some of the worst traffic jams in the year. When driving in the dark it is essential that you make sure all of your lights are on to provide you with the best visibility possible and to allow other drivers and fellow road users to see you.

As a driver we are obliged to show a duty of care to all other road users – falling to maintain the lighting is failing the duty of care you have for other road users. Due to the weather conditions on the roads and the change of season there may be more hazards than normal. Now autumn is almost over there will be lots of leaves on the ground – when these are mixed with rain water they can become slippery. This is a hazard to road uses because their vehicle may be caused to skid if they break harshly on a pile of wet leaves.
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A lot of us have heard of a whiplash injury, but some of us are not entirely sure what they are and how they are caused. Whiplash injuries are usually caused in accidents; the most common cause of a whiplash injury is a car accident. However they can also be caused in sporting accidents and trips and falls. In fact, anything that causes the neck to jolt sideways, backwards or forwards can cause such an injury.

Whiplash injuries are usually caused in accidents with an impact of speed. Even a minor car accident can cause a whiplash injury. Sporting accidents are a cause of them because when players are running around they may collide with one another. If you have suffered from a whiplash injury in an accident that wasn’t your fault then you may be able to make a whiplash compensation claim.

With most whiplash injuries the symptoms of them don’t become apparent immediately after an accident. It may take 6-12 hours for the symptoms to develop and the pain can get worse over the upcoming days after an accident.
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Although the types of weather we have experienced in the past few weeks are not ideal for gardening, some of us gardening-fanatics out there battle through to keep our garden looking in tip-top condition. To some of us our gardens are an area of relaxation and we take pride and joy in keeping them looking as tidy as possible. To others they make an ideal play area for the kids, and are good for BBQs in the summer.

There are a number of causes for gardening accidents – it may be that the tools you were using were incorrect and caused you an injury. Gardening also requires you to do a lot of lifting and bending; if you don’t do this correctly you may suffer from a back injury. If you are doing gardening in the winter you need to make sure that your electric machinery is plugged into a secure socket away from any water.

To prevent children or animals from getting involved in a gardening accident you should make sure that tools are put away at all times. Children and animals do not understand the danger of some objects, and so are vulnerable to injury.
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It’s that time of year again where we gather around a bonfire and watch a firework display. November the 5th is a night that a lot of us look forward to and it can be enjoyed by anybody, no matter how old they are. For the historians out there bonfire night takes place throughout Britain to celebrate the capture of Guy Fawkes. It is an event that has been passed from generation to generation since Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

Although bonfire night is a night of celebration, using fireworks or watching a firework display must be done so in a sensible manner. Those who don’t could end up putting themselves or others at risk of becoming involved in a firework accident. The less harmful fireworks such as sparklers can be extremely dangerous if they aren’t used correct. A sparkler burns twenty times the degrees of boiling hot water, so if it was to come into contact with your skin, imagine the damage that could be done. 

A lot of people choose to go to firework displays rather than carrying them out in their own back yard. In the past there have been traumatic news stories about people who have suffered severe burns as a firework went off when they tried to re-light it because it didn’t work the first time.
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