Have you ever been to hospital or your GP for tests and told “no news is good news”? The idea being that, if there is something wrong with the result, you will be informed and the correct action is taken. This is something we take for granted;  but should we?

A 3 year old girl, Miss R, was taken to A+E by her worried parents. She was examined and kept in overnight as it was noted that she had a high temperature. One of the junior doctors also sent a urine sample to check for infection. The next day, as the patient was much better she was discharged by the Consultant, with the diagnosis being “Likely Viral Illness”.

Unfortunately, the microbiology department had found that there was, in fact, a urinary infection. These results were phoned through to A+E, but never passed onto the Consultant. A day later a formal report arrived, and was signed by a junior doctor, but not acted on.
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It’s a wet day today at The Injury Lawyers camp – the rain has been coming down quite hard over the weekend and today, and the roads are wet and pose a possible hazard. We should all take extra care on wet roads; rather obviously, we must ensure to keep a greater distance between vehicles, keep speed to a sensible minimum, and keep an extra eye out with the rainwater clogging up our windscreens.  But even without the rain, accidents are still so easy to be involved in – and they are all too common.

In fact, just last Friday I managed to dodge a road accident on my way home from work. Whilst driving down a residential road, another vehicle clearly had not looked in to my road before emerging from a side road, and ended up pulling right out in front of me. It was certainly a nerve-racking experience; the car-lined residential street was in no way capable of allowing two vehicles to pass next to each other.

 A head on collision was marginally avoided as I managed to swerve to evade the offending vehicle, narrowly (and I mean, narrowly – there were millimetres in it!) missing a circular metal barrier for a pathway tree on the side of the road. In fact, the barrier itself had already been bent inwards and was pressing against the tree. Clearly someone has already hit it sometime before me – which turned out to work in my favour. Had the barrier been fully extended, I would certainly have hit it! A bit of a miracle it may seem (although I hope whichever poor sole hit it before me wasn’t too badly hurt).
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For those of you that aren’t aware of this, dog faeces can have serious consequences if it comes in to contact with a person’s eye. I remember when I was a young lad, my mother always used to warn me to stay away from dog mess if I ever spotted it; warning me that I could go blind if I get it in my eyes. And let’s face it – it’s easy enough when you’re a kid to end up on the ground.

Because of the dangers, most public areas have signs up advising of fixed penalties in place for anyone who doesn’t clear up their dogs mess. Yet sadly, there are some dog owners that just don’t take heed of the warnings, and do not care for the potentially serious consequences. And this next tragic story from the Daily Mail is an example of consequences that can occur.

According to the source/, youngster Aimee Langdon could end up blind after contracting a rare infection from dog faeces in a playground. The report advises that surgeons will be forced to remove Aimee’s eye if the antibiotics do not stop the spread of the infection before it reaches her brain.
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Reports emerged in the UK and world media on Monday 16th of August of a horrific road accident in Nigeria, in which at least 40 people are believed to have been killed.

The tragic accident happened on the evening of Sunday 15th August on a busy motorway ‘expressway’ between the cities of Lagos and Ibadan. It is understood that a lorry, which was loaded with sugar, crashed into dozens of vehicles waiting at a police checkpoint, and exploded into flames after its brakes failed to operate when driving down a slope.

The official number of people dead or injured as a result of the accident is yet to be confirmed, however the estimate has risen from 20 to at least 40 in the last few days, and it is understood that at least 20 vehicles were involved including 2 minibuses which were able to carry 18 people each. The sugar company who owned the vehicle causing the accident has also confirmed that the two employees in the vehicle have died. It has been reported that many of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition and identifying the bodies is likely to be a lengthy process which will only prolong the agony of the victims’ families.
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Road accidents are so very common – and in most cases, they are just that: accidents. All it takes is for a driver to lose their concentration for just a second, and an accident is caused. In most instances, there is no intention involved – just a case of negligence. But when drivers speed and an accident is caused – they are blatantly at fault.

According to sources from the Mirror, Liverpool football star Joe Cole faces a possible driving ban after being caught doing 105mph on a police speed gun! He did not attend the hearing at Staines Magistrates Court; he was instead represented by a barrister instructed by Nick “Mr. Loophole” Freemans firm, who have represented the rich and the famous in countless cases.
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It is saddening that not a day can go by when it appears that there are reports of fatal accidents on Britain’s roads. In fact it is a news headline which dominates these days and seems to be on the increase.

I previously wrote an article on the changes that the government are looking to implement in relation to driving tests in order to try and provide learner drivers with more awareness and get them used to driving independently on our roads.
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Potholes, protruding pavements, and poorly maintained pathways; they are all things that local authorities have a clear duty to ensure to protect the public from. But what is the extent of the duty the council has, and when can a claim be brought against them? To be honest, it can be somewhat of a grey area…

If a person is injured due to the state of the highways, then it is possible that they have a claim for compensation. Generally speaking, the defect has to be sufficient enough to warrant action from the local authority. It’s difficult to gauge – but if a hole is deep enough or a pavement is raised enough, and work clearly needs to be done, then a claim can be brought against the relevant authority.

So, what are the ins and outs of what has become the big battle between lawyers and councils?
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Twenty one passengers have been seriously injured and two are in a critical condition after the train on which they were travelling collided with a sewage tanker at a railway crossing.

The accident happened at approximately 5.30pm on Tuesday, 17th August 2010, near the small village of Little Cornard, Sudbury in Suffolk when the two-carriage train hit a large sewage tanker lorry which was stationary on a ‘user-worked’ railway crossing.  A total of 21 people suffered injuries in the accident and two of these have been taken to Colchester General Hospital with serious injuries, one of which, a 58 year old man is in intensive care and it is not yet clear whether he will survive his injuries. The other 19 injured passengers suffered less serious injuries in the form of cuts, bruises, back and neck pain and broken ribs.

It is understood that the sewage tanker split open upon impact causing sewage to spill over a wide area and the train was then de-railed however, it did not tip over. Witnesses described how they heard a loud bang when the collision occurred and then saw a number of distressed passengers wandering around the area in a daze covered in blood. One witness, a 65 year old man said “There was a very, very loud bang. I’ve never heard anything like it. I thought it was an aeroplane crash or a bomb going off.”
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Motorcycles can be dangerous vehicles; without the added protection a car offers, coming off of a bike can lead to serious injuries. And unfortunately, the police are often powerless to pursue thieves if it is deemed that the rider could come to harm – even when the concern is for a thieving menace to society!

Now, I’m not having a dig at the police here. This story from the Daily Mail can be seen from both sides of the coin. According to the report, police were ordered not to pursue thieves making away with £20,000 worth of motorcycles because a chase would put the lives of the criminals in danger.

Police had to watch them ride in to the distance for fear of their safety, given that the thieves were not wearing helmets or protective gear. The officers involved were reportedly following protocol and procedure in not initiating a pursuit after the robbery at the Manchester Motorbike Store in Altrincham.
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In recent news, it has been reported that a taxi driver reached speeds of 100mph in freezing conditions whilst he had passengers in his vehicle.

Neil Colquhoun told his two passengers, Victoria and Louise Guthrie to “shut up” when they asked him to slow down, as he raced along at dangerous speeds. Mr Colquhoun reached speeds of up to 70mph in built up areas that have a speed limit of 30mph. He then went on to overtake another vehicle on a blind bend. The two sisters were left feeling very “shaken” and to make matters worse, they recently lost their brother in a motorbike crash.

The sisters must have been terrified by the speeds that Mr. Colquhoun reached as he sped past the scene of one of Scotland’s worst road accidents. As they left Perth, Mr. Colquhoun overtook the vehicle on the blind bend and then went on to reach speeds of 100mph on the Burnbrae Straight near Methven where five people died in 2007 in a road accident. The sisters told Perth Sheriff Court that they watched the speedometer as Mr. Colquhoun continued to drive at speeds of 70mph as he drove through the village of Methven.
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