One thing you should all be doing is taking the opportunity to prepare yourself and your vehicle for winter. I grabbed my thick patchwork camping blanket from my rucksack last night in preparation to wash it to be used as an emergency blanket in case we see a repeat of the arctic conditions we endured last year. I suggest you all do the same.

So, what should you do? Here’s my advice, based on what I’ve started doing:

Check Your Car More

Whilst you should be checking your car as regularly as possible anyway, checking the tyre pressure, oil levels, and other bare essentials is all the more important during the colder months. Make sure you keep your antifreeze topped up in your windscreen reservoir, and have a healthy supply of de-icer in your boot. Get yourself a decent glass scraper, and make sure your lights are fully functioning before you head out for journeys in the dark.

Oh – and always have more than enough fuel in case you ever do get stranded!

Stocking Up Your Car

This is absolutely essential; as it’s something that a lot of people miss. You should stock your car up with plenty of essentials in the unfortunate event that you do end up being stranded. Not a lot of people think this is an ideas worth bothering about – if you’re one of those people, remember last year!

You should have in your car:

• Bottles of sealed drinking water. I usually have 12 small bottles (better to be safe than sorry!)
• Some packaged snacks with a long term sell by date on them – even if its just a few multipack chocolate bars to ensure you can eat if you need to
• Warm clothing – I have my large coat as a standard anyway, but I also put two spare hoodies in and a jumper as well as the large blanket I mentioned earlier. Again, if you’re going to be stranded, you need to keep yourself warm or risk potentially serious injury.
• A shovel – for obvious reasons, and a pair of wellies or sturdy boots

You should also ensure to have your mobile phones fully charged as well, and with more than enough credit to make emergency calls as and when they may be required.

Invest in the Extras

Go down to your local car related store or supermarket, and you can pick up some fantastic looking things to help you through the winter. I saw these tracks you can put in front of your tyres to help you escape snow in a supermarket last week! They were only £8, and I’m thinking they may be worth a try if they save me from getting stuck like I did last year. There are plenty of other little things you can have that will apparently make your winter driving experiences much safer.

You should also ensue to always leave enough time for journeys when commuting or getting around. You do NOT want to be rushing round at the best of times, but rushing in the snow is almost a guaranteed ticket to being involved in an accident.

I’m sure you all remember last year don’t you? The day Britain came to a standstill when we were pummelled with an insane amount of snow. I certainly remember my six hour journey (one that normally takes me 20 minutes) where I had a real concern that I would be involved in an accident or stuck out all night on the roads. With this kind of weather that we may now have to learn to expect in Britain, there is a lot we have to do to prepare ourselves for the worst.

So – what can you do to make sure you don’t end up in a car accident as wet weather and colder conditions commence their grim approach?

The first thing you can do is to take extra care out on the roads. You may be a perfectly safe driver, but the person closing up on your car boot whilst its tipping down with rain may not be. Keep your wits about you and watch out for the potential mistakes that other drivers can make. Of course, if you do end up being injured through the fault of another driver, give us a call as you will likely have a successful claim for compensation.

Preparing your vehicle is of paramount importance. If you are able to put some cold weather tyres on, it’s certainly a good idea. If not, ensure your tires are always inflated to the correct pressure (which should be in your manual or even written on the interior of your vehicle), and make sure you check your lights and windscreen wipers regularly (particularly lights, as you can’t see whether your rear ones have blown out unless you check specifically).

As well as the obvious engine area checks (oil, brake fluid, etc), it’s worth your while to put some antifreeze in your windscreen wash reservoir to stop the liquid freezing on the glass. As well as checking your vehicle is ready, it’s always best to make sure you are ready personally.  Make sure to keep some spare warm clothes in your car, perhaps even a blanket, welly boots,  some bottled (and sealed to prevent spoilage) water, and perhaps even some long lasting snack products or food. A shovel is also a fantastic idea. All these are probably more of a safe necessity than a precaution given what last year was like!

All this talk of cold weather and horrendous roads is admittedly a littler depressive, as I suppose we are only halfway through September. But the weather and roads will turn traitorous quickly enough; they always do! So get prepared now or face getting caught out!

If you end up being injured in a car accident claim thanks to the weather, you still have a claim so long as it wasn’t you that fell foul of the conditions. If a car fails to stop due to wet or icy roads and crashes in to you, you have a very good chance of winning your claim from their insurance.

What you do need to make sure of is to instruct your own independent personal injury lawyer. If you haven’t seen the recent news about getting lawyers referred to you through insurers or claims companies, read up on it – type “Jack Straw” and “referral fee ban” in to Google or Yahoo etc and you will see what I mean. Avoid letting anyone else decide the fate of your claim, or suffer the potential consequences of poor service levels and reduced payouts.

A first point to note, however, is that you should go to a law firm directly, and ensure not to use referral agencies or your insurer to direct you to a law firm. Agencies and insurers essentially act as middlemen on claims, selling them on for a fee of what could be up to £1,000 – so, if a law firm has paid as much as this for your claim, it’s likely that they’ll work less on your claim in order to redress the balance in their loss of profits. This can lead to receiving a poorer service, having a claim that drags on for longer than it has to, or the firm failing to maximise your compensation.

The following are important items to look out for in a law firm:

Getting 100% of your compensation

I have heard stories of some law firms telling their clients that, should they win their claim, they will take 25% of their compensation (or another figure of percentage). Some clients think this is a necessary outlay, but this simply does not have to be the case. We always guarantee that their clients receive 100% of their compensation, with no deductions – you should accept nothing less than this.

No costs for you to pay

The Injury Lawyers offer a genuine no win no fee agreement; so, win or lose your claim, we do not charge our clients any costs at all. Should you win your claim we will get out costs back from the other side, and should you lose, our losses are covered by insurance – so either way you do not pay.

Service standards

You should never be afraid to ask if a law firm has service or client care standards in place. If they have no set standards, this may tell you a lot about the firm. However, examples of standards which you should be looking for are – returning client calls within 24hours, or responding to client e-mails within 24hours.

Some added extras which are good to have….

Medical treatment

Some law firms aim to give a fuller service and offer benefits such as arranging private medical treatment at no cost to you. At The Injury Lawyers, we can arrange treatment such as physiotherapy, osteopathy, and chiropractic assistance right from the outset of your claim.

Vehicle Hire and Repairs

Many law firms will offer to arrange for vehicle hire should your own be out of use due to an accident, and we can even arrange the repairs for your vehicle.

If you require any further information then please feel free to give us a call.

A lot of drivers will admit that the first few times they drove their first car they were scared. The responsibilities of their actions on the road were on them, they now have no one to blame if they make mistakes, and no one to help correct them if they do.

It’s also the thought that when carrying friends and family in your car, it is you that is responsible for their safety. They are putting their lives in your hands, therefore trusting you not to cause them injury through reckless driving. In most cases this means that new drivers are likely to drive with extra care and responsibility when on the roads. From my experience it’s the more experienced drivers that tend to show less care on the road.

A lot of new drivers wear green P’s or L’s on their car, to make other drivers aware they have just passed their driving test. It is the older drivers that often take advantage of this and over take because they are driving too slowly, or taking their time to make a manoeuvre.  

All drivers on the roads, both old and new have the same responsibility to show a duty of care to one another when driving. This means that they should not do anything that may put other drivers at risk of injury.

If you have been involved in a car accident and it wasn’t your fault then you may be able to make a claim for injury compensation.  If you would like to speak to a fully trained lawyer regarding a previous accident then the Injury lawyers can help. We can offer you free legal advice and tell you everything you need to know if you wish to pursue a claim.

When we talk about children we mean those who are still at primary school. Sometimes at primary school parents do let their children walk home, especially if the school is local and not a far walk. Or even if their parents pick them up they often wonder off in front with friends or lag behind. Whatever the situation it is important that all drivers take into account the possibility of a child running out in from of them.

I remember when I was walking home with my mum from primary school one day, I think I was about 8 years old. We used to have to wait and cross with the lolly pop lady; however this day I saw my friends at the other side of the road and to my mum’s horror (who was walking a little behind) I ran straight out, without looking in front of this van. Luckily for me and my mum the van saw me and managed to stop.

Apart from the good telling off I got from both my mum and the lolly pop lady, I managed to escape without any injury. The worst injury I had was the humiliation of been yelled at by my mum in front of my school friends. Luckily that memory has stuck with me for over 12 years, and ever since then I’ve always crossed roads in the safest way possible.

Unfortunately, others aren’t always so lucky. In some cases when children run out vehicles don’t always see them, or because of the speed they are travelling at fail to stop. If a child and a motorist do become involved in a road traffic accident (RTA) then a court must decide up on the driver’s negligence.

Children do not have the same understanding of danger as adults, so may not realise the potential risk when running out in front of motor vehicles. When a child is put in a potentially dangerous road traffic situation a lower standard of care is expected of them. This means that if there were a road traffic accident – a child cannot be found negligent. 

An example of this is outlined in the RTA book. It gives an example of a car driver who waved a child pedestrian across a road in front of him and she followed his directions and was run down as she crossed. The crossing was dangerous. An adult in those circumstances would have been found partly to blame. If a child is so young that an understanding of safety cannot reasonably be expected then that child will not be held to have been negligent in those circumstances.

If you have a child who has been injured in a road traffic accident then you may be able to make a compensation claim for them. If you would like more information or would like to speak to someone about free legal advice then the Injury Lawyers will be able to help. We will handle your claim on a no win, no fee basis, and work with you every step of the way up on receiving the compensation your child deserves.

We can however help ourselves in many ways; in fact, according to sources from the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1312656/Millions-putting-lives-risk-texting-walk.html), millions of us are putting our lives at risk by texting at the same time as walking!

To quote a statistic from the report, one in 10 mobile phone users have already been injured because they are concentrating on their handsets whilst texting, taking little or no heed of any obstacles or hazards on the route. Bollards, sign posts, lamp posts, cars – these are but a few of the many things we are likely to miss if we are not paying enough attention to our surroundings whilst “text-walking”. It makes sense I suppose – it’s illegal to use our handsets whilst driving for obvious reasons.

The studies mentioned in the report confirm that the design of mobile phones means we use a significant amount of brain power – through devoting our visual attention and using up a great deal of our mental processing powers – on typing and sending text messages. Hospital A+E’s are reportedly seeing more cases of texting related accidents through the doors, which I imagine is a strain on the already thinly stretched NHS budget. The source goes on to say that apparently, two teenage pedestrians a week are either killed or injured as a result of mobile phone related incidents whilst walking. A startling statistic…

Laboratory experiments have been carried out which is the origin of the statistics mentioned above. The results found that one in five hazards are missed if people are paying too much attention to their mobile phones. So, for every five bollards you walk past whilst texting a friend, you are statistically likely to bump in to one!

The research, and the whole story itself, seems a little pointless on face value – yes, it’s good to know we are endangering our lives by texting on the move (thanks for the warning!), but I doubt many people will stop text-walking anytime soon – certainly not in busy Britain! But dig a little deeper, and the report advises that the research is designed to assist manufacturers to look for new ways to improve mobile phone designs to make texting on the move much safer. So, there is a point to the whole thing – particularly as the report highlights that many businessmen and women are expected to carry BlackBerrys and similar handsets to keep connected whilst on the move. We work far too hard in this country…

So, all this also serves as a bit of a warning for anyone thinking of claiming for compensation for walking in to a bollard – if you were texting at the time, a claim may be difficult to make (but not impossible). In the claiming world, there is a term we know as Contributory Negligence. It’s a common phrase which means that a Claimant is partially responsible for their accident or injuries. A common one is a road accident victim suffering worse because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt. If a seatbelt, which is a requirement by law, would have reduced the degree of suffering, it’s likely this will be alleged; and the result is a percentage les of the compensation you are entitled to receive (e.g. 25% reduction).

So, it’s all the more important to get an expert on your side. If you’re not sure whether you are entitled to make a claim for compensation, feel free to give us a call here at The Injury Lawyers for a free, relaxed, no obligation chat. If we think you have a claim, we will offer you our genuine No Win No Fee and fight your corner to ensure you get the justice you deserve. 

According to reports from the Daily Mail, amongst many other press offices, (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314227/Drink-driving-nurse-sentenced-8-years-killing-grandmother.html), a drunk driver has been sentenced to 8 years after killing a grandmother and injuring two young children when she drove on to a pavement whilst on her way to an alcoholism counselling session. It’s an absolute tragedy of a story – the report advises that 59 year old Judy De Gelas was killed from the impact, and her five year old granddaughter Libby was dragged across the road under the car bumper, suffering a fractured skull and a chest wound. Her 9 year old grandson Joshua also suffered a fractured skull.

The driver responsible, 47 year old nurse Jacquie Loosley, was found three and a half times over the legal limit when the incident occurred in June. The sentencing Judge, Seddon Cripps, reportedly “choked back tears” when he served the 8 year sentence and 15 year driving ban on Loosley after she admitted to careless driving under the influence of alcohol; I can completely understand why. He said “nothing I can do or say will bring Judy De Gelas back to life or heal the devastating injuries suffered by these little children.” From the dock, Loosely reportedly said “you cannot punish me more than I punish myself every day.”

It’s an absolutely terrible story to hear about – there really isn’t much more that can be said or discussed about the incident. The law against drink-driving is there for this exact reason – whilst under the influence of alcohol, a driver’s judgement and ability to drive is impaired – this is a fact! Why people continue to flout the law is beyond me. The result of this incident is a fatality and two seriously injured young children. I’d like to say let this be a lesson to others who consider drinking and getting behind the wheel of a car, but there are always stories in the press about drink-drive related incidents; people just don’t seem to care.

In a separate report from the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314722/Speed-cameras-dont-stop-REAL-danger-motorists-despite-300-increase-Labour-government.html), research has indicated that speed cameras do little to stop “real danger motorists”, despite 300% increases during the Labour Government years. The report states that the increase in the use of the cameras has not done a great deal to stop the motorists on the road that are really a danger to other road users and the general public.

Ministers have reportedly expressed their concerns over the issue: the cameras do well to catch a motorist driving a few miles over the limit on a road with a camera present, but there is still a lack of police patrols on the roads that are better equipped to spot reckless drivers. In the first Daily Mail report above, a witness allegedly sported Loosley’s car weaving across the road. A speed camera doesn’t spot a drunk driver – but the police certainly can. This is not to say that the tragic incident above could have been averted with more police presence on our roads – but you see my point. Speed cameras deter speeding motorists on a single stretch of road – a police officer can spot a driver flouting the rules on any road, or spot a drunk driver weaving across a road with relative ease.

It seems to me that more needs to be done. Let’s see what the Con-Dems can do to improve road safety during their term of power. And I hope this story above is a lesson to anyone even considering drink driving – the consequences can be tragic. Our thoughts and sympathies are of course with the families involved at this tough time.

According to the source (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11376809), a new proposed scheme would see newly qualified drivers having to adhere to night time curfews and restrictions on carrying passengers of a similar age, according to research from Cardiff University. It is suggested that a “graduate driving license” for drivers aged 17 – 19 could potentially save more than 200 lives and result in 1,700 fewer serious injuries each year. This is quite a statement.

The research suggests that one in five new drivers’ crash within the first 6 months of passing their test. This statistic doesn’t surprise me – it’s a common fact that you only really learn to drive once you have passed your test and you are out there on the roads by yourself. I’m sure many of you will agree that it’s an entirely different ball game; and many young drivers are known to be a little overexcited on the roads, if you get what I mean! The research indicates that some kind of a “graduate driving license” would reduce many accidents.

The report goes on to say that there are already similar schemes in parts of the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The scheme reportedly works in the other countries; so why couldn’t it work here? It goes on to say that Tune in to Traffic has also highlighting the dangers or listening to MP3 players and iPods whilst driving and walking – now this is something Id like to hear more about, as I regularly listen to my MP3 player through my car speaker system.

The report also advises that these ideas, amongst many others, are to be presented at a World Safety Conference designed for experts to put their views across on how to improve road safety.

There has of course been criticism of the idea – motoring organisations have reportedly said that such restrictions would be difficult to enforce. It’s a good point; save for the police pulling over every driver that looks under the age of 19, how on earth would they be able to identify drivers breaking such a rule without having to waste vast amounts of time and resources on attending young looking drivers. And what about us who are lucky enough to retain our youthful good looks!?

Such a scheme would also end up penalising those who work at night – which I imagine is a lot of young people who have part time jobs at bars and pubs. And there are of course many young drivers who are genuinely sensible and responsible – people fitting this category could end up being unfairly penalised as well.

It’s a huge topic for debate that generally affects us all. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident that wasn’t your fault, get in touch with an expert independent firm of personal injury lawyers for the best advice and guidance on claiming.

TIP OF THE DAY: Never let an insurance company refer you to a solicitor. They sell your claim to the highest bidding law firm, meaning you get a solicitor with less money and time to spend on your case. It leaves you open to under settling and you will receive a significantly poorer service!

Eleven doctors failed to trace signs of cancer, and now mum of three is told she’ll die. Angela Skeffington, 43, was given just weeks to live after doctors failed to trace tell-tale signs of cancer.

Angela first noticed something was wrong five months ago, although on numerous visits to the doctors she was told she was suffering from period pains. The 43-year-old gran of five has now been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. Medics say it has spread to her liver and lymph nodes and is far too advanced to operate.

Angela, a former warehouse worker, who has lost seven stone due to the illness said: “I knew something was terribly wrong and needed help. They wouldn’t listen to me. I had all the symptoms of cancer but no one did anything about it. Now it is too late.”

Angela’s ordeal began at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham back in April. She told her GP and ten medics that she had severe pains in her stomach, was passing blood and had no appetite.

Medical records from the hospital show that she was seen by ten doctors in 12 visits to A&E. But Angela says her “cries for help” were ignored, and she felt that she was treated like a “nuisance” because she kept going back.

Angela was given pain killers by the doctors and one even told her to eat more bananas. She was only given a CT scan a week ago, when the killer disease was finally discovered.

Angela told The Sun: “I found out my body was riddled with tumours. I feel like they never gave me any chance to survive. It makes me so angry that I won’t see my grandchildren grow up. That breaks my heart and is the worst thing.”

A spokeswoman for the Heart of England which runs Heartlands Hospital said: “We are very sorry to learn of Mrs Skeffington’s concerns and are looking into the issues.”

In the UK we are extremely lucky to have the NHS service that we do. Our A&E sites do an amazing job of looking after their patients. Doctors often have to make life saving decisions on the spot, and most of the time those decisions are ones of success.  However in cases like the one of Angela Skeffington, doubt often raises in our mind.

Although it is very rare for something as severe as this to happen, the fact is that it still does. If you feel that you have been let down by your medical service and it has caused you further injury or illness then Your Lawyers may be able to help you.

An ambulance driver has been told he could lose his job and his licence after he was clocked by a speed camera travelling at 112mph when rushing to attend to a patient in need.

Paul Bex, who received the letter from police informing him that he faces prosecution, was speeding under blue lights to attend to a home patient after a surgeon told him he needed a liver plant within three hours.

However this man’s race against time to save someone’s life appears to have gone unconsidered.

Despite an appeal by his employer, lifeline Media Transport Service, Mr Bex will have to appear at a court hearing to determine further prosecution.

“I was doing my job safely and as quickly as possible. Now I find out I could lose my licence,” said Mr Bex in a report with the Metro. “The conditions were dry, clear and safe. I have been trained the same way as the police are trained. The worst outcome is that I could lose my licence which means that I will not be able to work.”

A grey area in the written law for the ambulance service says that an ambulance cannot exceed the speed limit unless they are carrying a patient.

Don Williams, president of the British Ambulance Association, told the Metro, that this law was ‘nonsense’.

He said: “If a senior surgeon hands me an organ and says that the situation is critical, I owe a duty of care to the patient, the surgeon and the relatives of the person who donated the organ.”