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Given there are clearly a number of outstanding safety issues and concerns over autonomous and self-drive cars, we have done a number of blogs about them in recent weeks and months.

Although there have been several accidents involving self-drive cars so far, we now have the first incident of a pedestrian killed by a self-drive car as well.

A self-drive Uber SUV that was in autonomous mode reportedly struck a 49-year-old woman earlier this week, fatally injuring her. The incident has once against called in to question the safety of self-drive vehicles that our own government are pushing to be on our roads in the next few years.
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In the next few years, the government wants autonomous vehicles – including self-driving lorries – on Britain’s roads. The problem is what happens when there is an accident, as well as how accidents can be stopped when a vehicle is essentially being controlled by a potentially fallible computer.

There have already been a number of incidents and fatalities with self-drive vehicles involved, so how can we be assured that they’re completely safe on our roads? If something does go wrong, how do we nail who is liable between a “driver” who may still be in the seat, and the manufacturer.
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Is an e-cigarette safe? Is “vaping” causing more damage to us than smoking? Is it a suitable alternative to smoking?

We’re not medical experts, but it’s clear from reports that those of us who “vape” need to err on the side of caution in some respects. Although the long-term health benefits / risks appear to have not yet been fully established, there have been numerous incidents reported of e-cigarette batteries exploding.

For the victims, there may be a way to claim for personal injury compensation.
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When a claimant suffers personal injury because of someone else’s negligence, they can claim compensation for the injuries and harm suffered as a result of that negligence. But what happens when someone is injured by someone acting in the course of their duty on behalf of a company? i.e. like an employee acting in the course of their employment?

Vicarious liability is a way where an individual’s responsibility and liability can be transferred to their employer if the accident happened during the individual’s course of employment. The defendant’s employer should be insured and have the finances to compensate the claimant, and they can essentially cover the negligence of an employee.
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Whilst on holiday, our client lost their footing on a hotel driveway defect which caused them to fall and suffer a broken wrist.

There’s never a good time for it, but to suffer an injury like that while on holiday when you’re supposed to be relaxing is devastating!

Our client also suffered bruising to the leg. Uneven ground and flooring may not seem like much to some, but they can cause serious harm. In addition to broken bones, anyone who trips on them could end up hitting their heads and could suffer a brain injury.
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Four employees tragically died while carrying out a job at an excavation site.

The four employees were working on constructing a steel structure as part of the foundation for a large Pressure Test Facility (PTF) at Claxton Engineering Services Limited in Great Yarmouth. The partially-built steel structure weighed several tonnes and would have weighed 32 tonnes on completion. The excavation for the PTF was more than 23m long, 3m wide and 2m deep.

Sadly, the structure collapsed on top of the employees.
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An asbestos removal supervisor has been fined and sentenced for exposing his team members to deadly asbestos fibres.

Alan Burdett was a supervisor for Asbestos Decontamination Services Limited in Birmingham and was engaged in large scale asbestos ceiling removal of Raleigh House in Stockport. Mr Burdett led a team during licensed asbestos removal works on a day-to-day basis.
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If this is not a lesson learnt, then I do not know what is…

T & D Galvanising Ltd were found to have breached the duty of care owed to their employee, Mr Ali Zada, who sadly suffered severe injuries to his leg and foot in June 2015.

On the day in question, Mr Zada was lifting wires that were tied around a bundle of mesh panels, when the overheard crane snapped on one side which caused the mesh panels to swing down and hit his leg.

Mr Zada suffered fractures to his leg and foot.
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Health and safety in the workplace is so, so important. Getting it right and wrong can literally be the difference between life and death…

In this employer’s negligence case, an employee of Cornish Construction Company, Roger Daw, tragically had both his legs amputated after he was crushed by a dumper truck during the course of his employment.

A truly horrifying incident.
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Personal injury compensation is awarded to someone who has been involved in an accident that was not their fault. Those that have been injured due to someone else’s negligence can generally recover two things: general damages, and special damages.

General damages are to compensate for any pain, suffering, or loss amenity due to the injury. Special damages covers expenses and future losses that a person will incur directly because of the incident. This can include travel expenses, clothing, loss of earnings etc…

This financial settlement is meant to help those who have suffered an injury to get their life back on track, or as near as, before the injury happened. So how do we calculate a claim for a broken arm, for example?
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