Contributory negligence is when the other party (the ‘Defendant’ in law speak) admits that they are at fault for your accident and will pay you compensation but want to pay you less as they feel you are partly at fault for the accident. For example, if they successfully allege that you are 20% at fault for the accident then the other party will pay you 20% less than the value of your claim.
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If a driver ignores a road sign, they do so at their own risk. In the case of Buffel V Cardox ltd, a cyclist crossing the main road was injured by a lorry travelling up that main road.

About 95 yards from the crossing there were signs and studs in the road warning drivers on the main road to ‘slow’ and there were also a cross roads sign and a flashing beacon to warn drivers of the dangers ahead but the lorry driver on the main road decided to ignored the road signs failing to slow down and carried on driving at a high speed, which the Court found to be a dangerous speed for the road conditions.
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Trips and slips are common place in the workplace. Unfortunately, this means that injuries are a regular occurrence.Employers are under a duty under regulation 12 of the Workplace, Health and Safety regulations 1992 to make sure as follows:
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The highway code states that on all journeys, the rider and pillion passenger on a motorcycle, scooter or moped MUST wear a crash helmet. Those helmets must also be of construction which complies with the regulations and be properly fastened.
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A teenager has been sent to prison for 6 months following an attack on firefighters. Greig Deans was one of a gang of teenagers who were involved in launching fireworks at the emergency services as they responded to an emergency call out on bonfire night last year. Allegedly, Deans, now 16, threw a firework at an emergency crew who were called to deal with an illegal bonfire in Aberdeen. He was sentenced to six months in rehabilitation in a young offender’s institute with the Aberdeen Sheriff Court indicating that his detention was necessary as a deterrent to others.
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In order for a victim to successfully pursue a claim for compensation the injured victim must prove that the other party (known as the Defendant) was not only negligent (i.e. at fault for the accident) but also that the negligent party by his or her negligence caused the victims injuries and other losses sustained ( we call this ‘causation’).
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If you are injured by a foreign driver and foreign vehicle then you might be worried about how to make a claim if the vehicle is covered by a foreign insurer. Well, fear not! Fortunately the Green Card system operates to try and compensate drivers involved in accidents who are in just such a situation.

The Green Card system was set up in 1953 and covers 44 member countries. Its objectives are twofold:

1)      To facilitate movement of vehicles across state borders by the use of an internationally accepted document which proves the existence of insurance (the Green Card or International Insurance Card)

2)      To ensure that victims of accidents involving foreign motor vehicles are not disadvantaged.
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So, you want to know if a passenger in a stolen car can claim compensation for injuries following a car accident? Not sure why you would want to know this? I’ll presume you are just interested in the area of law or may be you know someone you shouldn’t, lets just call him Fred…So Fred thought it was a good idea at the time to jump into a car with a mate who had just stolen it and go on a joy ride….. he runs it off the road and the car is rolled into a field, poor Fred is injured as a result…. What can Fred do?
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A big decision is on the horizon in terms of bringing personal injury claims. This week the Ministry of Justice is expected to reveal whether it will reverse a landmark judgement that currently prevents people who have suffered illness related to asbestos to sue for compensation.

If the decision is overturned it will mean as many as 90,000 people a year who have been diagnosed with pleural plaques may be able to make a claim. Currently the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has decided against adding the condition to the approved list of “compensatable disablement” schemes.
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Often, where a dependent of a deceased visits a solicitor to discuss a potential claim for damages, they may ask about claiming damages for the grief and stress they have suffered following the death. Shock or grief alone is not sufficient to make a claim. However, that is not to say that a claim cannot be considered where actual recognised psychiatric injury has been suffered.

 Psychiatric injury can be difficult to prove and in order to bring a claim the claimant must have:

1)      Suffered a recognised psychiatric illness.

2)      Brought the action within one of the recognised categories for a claim
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