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The World of Claiming – It can all be a bit Crazy!
Personal Injury – together with “No Win, No Fee”, “Ambulance Chasing Lawyers”, and “tripping up kerbs” is a common phrase in today’s society. And we at The Injury Lawyers are of course fully aware that our work is often misunderstood and joked about!
So, I thought I’d do a little article on the way it works – let’s face it, the press love a good “head shaker” story. In fact, the inspiration for my blog today comes from a story in the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313432/David-Cameron-plans-tear-mad-health-safety-regulations.html) this week about the PM’s promise to tear up health and safety regulations that have become a “music hall joke.”
According to the report, Cameron will “declare war on the mushrooming compensation culture”, with regulations on police, schools, and ambulance workers being lifted to encourage more common sense decisions, without the threat of a claim being made against them.
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Injury Lawyers: The Highway Code
The Highway Code is a series of rules created for all road uses in England, Scotland and Wales. The reading and understanding of it is essential for everyone including the most vulnerable road users:
- Pedestrians, especially children, older or disabled people
- Cyclists
- Motorcyclists
- Horse riders
- Drivers
The Highway Code is something all road users must abide by and if they fail to do so, some of the requirements can be a criminal offence and lead to prosecution. Knowing of the rules in the Highway Code is essential, especially for those driving on the roads, to avoid road traffic accidents (RTA).
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Seven people were injured when an industrial sized coffee machine exploded inside a supermarket cafe. Shoppers and staff were sent diving to the floor after the powerful blast ripped through the Sainsbury’s branch at lunchtime. Emergency crews from the police, fire and ambulance services rushed to the scene and six people were taken to hospital, some suffering from head injuries.
The store, in Famborough, Hants, was also evacuated while fire fighters dealt with the incident and paramedics treated the injured. A Health and Safety Executive investigation was expected to be launched today, to why the large drinks machine exploded. The incident happened yesterday lunch time, as shoppers sat down to eat their lunch at the supermarket. Six victims, including both staff members and customers, were taken to Frimley Park Hospital.
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Patient Failed by Medical Staff Has Months to Live
Last week reports were in the news about Angela Skeffington, 43, a former warehouse worker and mother of three who was told she had just weeks to live after Doctors had failed to trace signs of cancer. Today another report has been released about a mum-of-three who has been given just months to live after doctors failed to diagnose her cancer during 20 examinations.
Catherine Watkins, 55, was failed repeatedly by medical staff in Southend, Essex. Despite losing two stone and being in so much pain that she could hardly move, Doctors refused to give her a CT scan. Mrs Watkins, who also suffers from diabetes, was told by Doctors that she had gallstones. She started suffering from abdominal pain in December and had been rushed to the A&E department of Southend Hospital four times in the past nine months.
After endless arguments by her daughter, Mrs Watkins was finally given a CT scan last month. This is when Medical staff discovered Catherine had advanced liver and pancreatic cancer. Southend University Hospital is currently investigating the cancer patient’s treatment.
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No matter what precautions we take, accidents are still going to happen. We can make people more aware of possible dangers, but that isn’t always the case. This comes after a story in the Daily Mail about an eight year old girl who plunged about 150ft from a tower block as she tried to talk to a friend.
Leanne Minick, was leaning out of her bedroom window when she tumbled forward out of her flat on the 15th floor and landed on the pavement below.
Her mother Claire Sicberras and her partner, Ian Whitmore, were quickly on the scene and have been left heartbroken by her death. A neighbour and friend of the family told the Daily Mail that Leanne had been trying to talk to a friend on the ground when she fell from the flat in East London.
She told the paper: “I heard shouting outside, looked out of my window and saw Leanne’s mum and dad downstairs. Leanne fell from her bedroom window. She was leaning out talking to somebody, got too confident and fell.”
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13 People Confirmed Dead After Plane Crash
Although air travel is the safest means of transport, with the least amount of accidents, it doesn’t mean it’s invincible. At least 13 people have been confirmed dead after a plane owned by state-run airline Conviasa crashed in south Venezuela on Monday.
A report with the Daily Mail said that the plane was carrying 51 people when it crashed shortly after take-off in the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz. The plane went down on the property of the state-run Sidor steel foundry.
An emergency official told Venezuelan that rescue workers were helping with injured victims, however he did not say how many had survived. Garces said the plane was heading to Margarita Island when it crashed for reasons that were unclear. Forty-three passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane when it crashed.
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Road Accidents: A General Guide
In the aim to prevent accidents upon our roads, it is both pedestrians and vehicles users that need to work together. This first became established back in the early 1800’s when the courts ruled that both parties owed one another a duty of care whilst on the roads.
Since the 1800’s there have been major advancements in vehicle technology. Very few people still travel around in carts pulled by horses. However the same principle still applies. If anything it requires that we take extra care on the roads of today, due to the amount of traffic congestion on them.
Accidents occur on our roads every day, in fact thousands take place every year. If you witness or become involved in a road traffic accident you may not know what to do next. When a traffic accidents takes place it is important that the situation is assessed accurately and that emergency services are called to the scene.
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Road Traffic Accidents: Hit and Run
As a driver it is essential that you give children the right of way when crossing roads, most of us do. However there are some occasions where children become injured when crossing the road. If this was to happen to us, then as the driver it would be our duty to then stop the car and follow the correct measures to make sure that child is safe.
However in some circumstances, drivers panic and flee the scene, this is known as hit and run. If you are subjected to a hit and run accident, whether you are a pedestrian and have been ran over or if someone runs into your vehicle and drives off you’re still entitled to compensation. It can seem like a confusing time as you don’t have any of the other party’s details to follow up. If you have a child who has been involved in such an accident then they have up until the age of 21 to make a claim.
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Last night’s drive home was not one of my favourites. I’ve only just started working outside of Sheffield, which means a long drive on the M1 is fairly new to me. To get to work I have to travel five junctions down the M1, apart from the traffic this is not normally a problem.
However, last night was the first time I’ve driven home in such horrific weather conditions. It was throwing it down with rain, which meant severe restrictions on my visibility.
Normally I can’t wait to get home so I head for the fast lane, and hurry along. However within seconds of been in the fast lane I realised that I couldn’t see a thing.
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Imagine been forced to chose which of your two children lived, and which died. That’s the decision that Rachel Edwards had to make the day her car hit a pothole and plummeted into a dyke. Rachel had been driving 16-year-old Jack, and two-year-old Isabella when the accident took place.
As water rushed into the vehicle, Mrs Edwards, who was six months pregnant at the time, managed to squeeze from the wreckage and swim to the surface.
She took a breath and swam back down to the wreckage to save her two children. However when she got there, she managed to free Isabella, but realised that Jack was stuck behind the closed door.
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