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Sadly, many road accidents involving motorbikes end in tragedy. Without the added safety a car offers, bikers are of course easily exposed to serious trauma injuries if they are involved in an accident; and many often lead to fatalities. So it’s nice to hear of an extraordinary survival story of a biker who fought against all odds to survive his ordeal.

According to the report from Sky News, 44 year old former warehouse Manager Steve Nixon technically “died” 28 times after he suffered a massive heart attack in Leicestershire last year in a serious road accident. On scene paramedics revived him 5 times before he was airlifted to Coventry’s University Hospital, where remarkably he was saved from his heart stopping a further 23 times. Each time the great team at the hospital managed to get his heart going again.
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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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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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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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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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A cyclist has been accused of assault even though he claims the events of the incident are completely inaccurate. 39 – year – old Jared Kelly, a screenwriter, has been accused of assaulting a taxi driver in Oxford.

According to Mr Kelly, he was cycling west along Oxford Street on Tuesday 9^th March between four and five in the afternoon.  Mr Kelly reports that a taxi driver over took him and proceeded to cut up his path of travel when the taxi driver pulled over to pick passengers up, this resulted in Mr Kelly running into the back of the Taxi.
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I’m sure many of you reading this are aware of the Toyota troubles with several models of their vehicles being recalled over alleged safety concerns. For those of you who are not aware of this, Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles after concerns were raised over faulty floor mats, accelerator pedals sticking when depressed, and braking and steering faults. It’s a story that has worried many Toyota owners; but apparently not affected their sales too much from what I’ve heard in other recent press!

But returning to the story at hand, it would appear preliminary investigations have illustrated some unexpected results. According to sources from the BBC, the investigation suggests that the data recorders in 58 cars involved in such incidents indicate that the brakes were not applied in 35 cases. Essentially, it is being suggested that driver error may have contributed to the “unintended acceleration” cases that are currently being reviewed with the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (US NHTSA).
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Just the other day I authored an article on speeding and its dangers. And I will be covering the same topic again after reading this heartbreaking story of a young boy killed by a reckless, speeding driver.

According to the Daily Mail (source), a 12 year old boy who beat leukaemia and lived with several disabilities was tragically knocked down by a speeding driver doing almost twice the limit, as he was crossing the road on his bicycle. Steven Atkinson was reportedly born with a cleft palate and curvature of the spine, as well as being deaf in one ear and having an immobile eye. After a 3 year battle, this brave young boy beat leukaemia.
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It’s no secret that speeding leads to accidents. The speed limit is there for a very good reason, and breaking it puts the offender and other road users and pedestrians in serious danger. That’s why it’s against the law, and the consequences are there to prevent people from doing it.

But it appears there can be loopholes in the system; in fact, this next story shows how one woman got away without consequence for a considerable length of time by employing a rather disturbing smoke screen to cover up her road traffic offences. According to the Daily Mail, a company CEO avoided speeding fines by blaming them all on her deceased mother!  It’s an unbelievable story. A leading business lady, turned somewhat amateur scam-artist, evaded points on her license by claiming her dead mother was behind the wheel of the car at the time of the offence.
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