Collision on a roundabout who is liable?

I would say that 95% of the accident claims we see which involve a roundabout are caused by people who are in the wrong lane or are changing lanes. The Highway Code stipulates that you should take note and act on all the information available to you when approaching a roundabout. This includes traffic signs, traffic lights and lane markings which direct you into the correct lane. Therefore you should be checking the lane markings and signage to ensure you are positioned correctly for your exit.

Motorists which stay in the left hand lane and proceed all the way round the island in this lane until they reach the exit travel across roundabout exits – which other vehicles are attempting to exit at that point in the correct lane. Liability unfortunately is not always clear cut as often the parties involved will argue that they were positioned correctly on the roundabout.
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Bus Drivers Liability in the UK

The duty of a bus driver to their passengers is the same as any other driver to their passengers – they have a responsibility to ensure that passengers are not injured due to any negligence on their behalf.

The most common accidents on buses are caused by the driver performing an emergency stop or braking harshly. Passengers are generally thrown around on the bus as a result of this and this can cause personal injury.

However this does not necessarily mean there is fault with the driver of the bus. An emergency stop is just that, stopping due to an emergency.

In the case of Wooler v London Transport Board the claimant was injured when the bus driver performed an emergency stop when the lorry in front stopped due to a pedestrian stepping out into the road. It was eventually held that the bus driver was not at fault for the claimant’s injuries as the bus was obviously following the lorry at a safe distance as it managed to stop without colliding with it.
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Under Settled Compensation Claims

Pursuing a claim can be quite confusing and daunting for people as some companies fail to explain the process in a nice straight forward way- they prefer to speak in complicated legal jargon that many people find just plain confusing and essentially means nothing to them. Unfortunately, this also means that many people may under-settle their compensation claim either because they do not understand or to simply end things as soon as possible.

It is a sad truth that some companies like to end things as soon as possible which can actually be against the best interests of you – mainly insurance companies of third parties like to deal direct with a quick and small settlement as this is advantageous to them as it saves them money! However, under settling a claim can have unfortunate consequences -especially if your injury is serious and has long term affects.
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How Much is Average Insurance Payout for Whiplash?

It is understandable why many people turn to their car insurance when they have had an accident – after all, isn’t their help what we pay all that money for? However, when it comes to personal injury claims it is always best to instruct your own personal injury specialist to ensure you are getting the best help possible. When you involve your car insurance in organising legal help for a personal injury claim, all they simply do is refer your case across to a panel of their solicitors. This seems a bizarre way of doing things when you think about it – for example: would you trust someone to go and buy your house for you without you viewing the house beforehand and making sure it was the best one for your needs?

When you put your claim through your insurance this is essentially what you are doing – allowing somebody else to guess what type of solicitor is best for you. To make the system even worse, the solicitor they chose will normally pay them a referral fee which will take money away from the budget they have to run your case. In reality, it makes sense for the insurers to pass your case to whichever firm on their panel pays the most for your claim! This system of referral fees is becoming illegal this April – showing just how wrong it really is.

So how does this system actually link to how much your pay out will be for a whiplash claim? Surely, this is just a business being a business and doesn’t affect you?
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Pre-Medical Offers – STOP!

Pre-medical offers are what they say on the tin! – Offers made before medical evidence has been gathered and reviewed. In most cases such offers should be treated with caution and should only be considered if you have the advice of a personal injury specialist as the majority of the time you may run the risk of under-settling your claim.

Compensation is based on the severity of your injuries and how long these will affect your everyday life. Therefore, it is a main and pinnacle part of any claim to gather accurate medical evidence using a medico-legal report from a proper expert. This expert has a duty to the Court which ensures that they are an impartial party in the claim. In the report compiled by this expert there are often key bits of information that affect the value of your claim, which include:

1. A prognosis period – which predicts how long your injury will affect you.
2. Any treatment you may require.
3. Effects on your ability to work.
4. Effects on the your daily routine and daily living.

Based on all the above and of course any consequential losses you have occurred, a valuation of your claim will be established and consequently any offers of settlement will be based on such evidence.
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Rear End Shunt Car Accident Claims

The most common road traffic accident claims we deal with here at The Injury Lawyers is when a vehicle has been hit in the rear by another vehicle.

A vehicle is often stationary or slowing down when the driver behind fails to react to this and just drives straight into the rear of your vehicle. Fault for this type of accident is pretty straight forward – after all, you do not have control of the vehicle behind do you?

The Highway Code says that a driver must “Drive at a speed which will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear: You should leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down and stops.”

This is simple and pretty self explanatory and to be honest – common sense – so why do we have so many rear end shunt traffic accidents such as this?
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Severe Whiplash Payout

In a personal injury claim you can be given general guidelines as to the likely compensation you are entitled to receive. However, the amount of compensation is accurately calculated upon the receipt of medical evidence in respect of your accident related injuries.

Whiplash is probably one of the easiest to assess – but the specific amount to be placed on your injuries will depend on several aspects.

The Judicial Studies Board, who provide guidelines to your legal representatives, have set out the following in order to help us assess your claim for compensation and the value of it. The assessment of compensation for your injuries will consider the following:

• The seriousness of your injuries and whether you have suffered any broken bones, any disfigurement or any physical or mental impairment
• Whether you are likely to make a full recovery or whether you are likely to suffer any long term affects/side effects.
• Whether you have experienced any loss of earnings/income or are likely to experience any loss of earnings in the future as a result of the accident
• The level of pain you have suffered or are still suffering
• How your day to day living has been affected by the injuries

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Common Type Manhole Claims

There are two common types of accidents that can occur with manholes! (1) The manhole cover is completely missing leaving a big hole in the middle of the pavement and (2) the cover is faulty and falls through when weight is put onto it.

In both of these situations you are entitled to claim for compensation, as of course these types of accidents can cause serious injuries!

So how do you go about making a claim? Pursuing a claim for these accidents are usually against the local council or alternatively against a private company (Such as Gas or Electric) and therefore evidence is always going to be helpful at the beginning of the claim to ensure things can run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. When I say evidence I primarily mean photographs. Although, I understand, that this may not be the first thing on your mind after a nasty fall… Photographs are key evidence to prove that the cover was completely missing or faulty.
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Car accidents when turning right on a roundabout

Accidents on roundabouts are one of the most common types of accidents we deal with here at The Injury Lawyers. A frequent cause of many roundabout accidents is when a motorist is in the wrong lane for their exit and position themselves incorrectly when travelling around the roundabout.

The Highway Code’s rules on roundabouts stipulates that you should take note and act on all the information available to you, when approaching a roundabout. This includes traffic signs, traffic lights and lane markings which direct you into the correct lane. You should be checking the lane markings and signage to ensure you are positioned correctly for your exit.
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How Long does an Insurance Claim take to Settle?

This is a common question but unfortunately it does not have a set answer. Of course, there are certain time frames in place to ensure your claim is kept moving and dealt with; however establishing a time frame for the overall settlement is simply not possible.

The main reason for this is that every case is different! Every accident has different circumstances (although many with the “standard issues”) and consequently different people suffer differently. Compensation is based on the severity and longevity of your injury and therefore some claims will inevitably take longer if you are suffering from a serious injury.

The two main protocols in place for claims where we would be pursuing an insurer is either under the Road Traffic Accident Protocol (as it says on the tin- for road traffic accidents, or RTAP) and the Personal Injury Protocol (PI). The latter is the one followed for accidents at work, whiplash injury claims and other slip and trip accidents.
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