It has been revealed this month that the potholes in the road and on public footpaths are eating away at the council’s budget, due to the amount of personal injury compensation claims being filed against them.
West Sussex council have revealed this week the huge amount of personal injury compensation awards they have had to pay out due to 676 pothole personal injury compensation claims being made. These claims have mainly been pursued by pedestrians, claiming for slip, trip and fall accidents and then by motorists for damage to their vehicles and sometime to themselves.
In the financial year 2008 – 2009, the local councils have spent an incredible £500,000 in trying to repair the numerous potholes on the roads and footpaths, which also includes patching repairs and re-surfacing work. The recent report showed that routine highway inspections have resulted in 7,959 defective notices.
The report also reveals that out of 676 claims made by the public, 135 of these claims were awarded compensation, which has totalled to nearly £50,000. In March this year, the report has determined that the highest number of pothole claims have been made, which amounts to 106.
It is estimated that there are nearly £1.5 million worth of pothole repairs and 5,000 have been filled in the last month.
A road traffic accident that occurred on the M1 has left a 10 year old boy suffering with personal injuries.
It was heard that the 10 year old boy was travelling as a passenger in a Nissan Micra when there was flying debris from a road traffic accident involving a Citroen Xsara Picasso and a Peugeot 206 crash.
Apparently both vehicles collided when they both attempted to manoeuvre into the middle lane at the same time at junction 35 at Thorpe Hesley. Both vehicles overturned before they eventually landed on the embankment.
The drivers from both vehicles were left with injuries due to the road traffic accident and taken by air ambulance to Rotherham District General Hospital.
The 10 year old boy who was injured due to this road traffic accident was taken to hospital by air ambulance and treated by medical staff for bruising and whiplash injuries.
The driver of the Citroen Xsara Picasso also sustained whiplash injuries and bruising and the driver of the Peugeot 206 sustained injuries to his chest and bruising.
It has not yet been confirmed if the drivers of the vehicles are pursuing a personal injury compensation claim. Nor has it been revealed if the 10 year old boy, who was also injured in the road traffic accident, intends to pursue a claim for whiplash.
A woman who exaggerated her injuries in a hope to achieve a higher award of personal injury compensation has been fined £2,500 as a result of her lies.
Ms Joanne Kirk, from Preston, filed a personal injury compensation claim after she received minor injuries in a road traffic accident.
Ms Joanne Kirk claimed that she had been severely injured, left disabled and was suffering from fibromyalgia due the road traffic accident. Her personal injury compensation claim could have given her more than £800,000. However, she was secretly investigated by the NIB, who then presented their evidence in a court hearing, proving that Ms Kirk was more active and mobile than she had originally claimed to be. The evidence, in the form of video footage, exposed Ms Joanne Kirk driving and walking to the shop.
Mr Justice Coulsen commented on this fraudulent personal injury compensation claim after watching the video footage and said there was a “huge gulf between Mrs Kirk’s verified statements and the reality of her condition.”
He also said that Ms Kirk had “exaggerated her symptoms to a significant and unconscionable degree.”
Due to the fact that Ms Joanne Kirk had exaggerated her injuries, she was later fined £2,500 and ordered to pay a substantial amount to her insurers, which in the end resulted in a figure of approximately £125,000.
A woman has been awarded personal injury compensation after she suffered injuries after she fell due to a metal sheep hurdle on a public right of way.
It was heard that in February 2005, Mrs Zandra Elly from Timsbury, suffered severe injuries to her back when she was out walking in the countryside. However, she then fell from a metal sheep hurdle that was obstructing the public right of way.
The metal sheep hurdle is said to of been an “unreasonable obstruction” and that the farmer had put the hurdle there to help prevent his animals from escaping. Mrs Elly had no other option other than to attempt to climb over the hurdle, due to the fact that the farmer had secured the hurdle with barbed wire, which also prevented it from opening like a gate.
After the accident occurred, Mrs Zandra Elly took legal advice and pursued a personal injury compensation claim against the farmer for the injuries she sustained.
Jill Rainey, who is Mrs Elly’s solicitor has commented on this personal injury compensation claim and said:
“The judge found that the hurdle was an unreasonable obstruction of the highway and a potential danger.
“He found that the risk of injury should have been foreseen as the hurdle could not be opened, and with its narrow slats, was clearly not designed to be climbed over.
“It has taken three years for the case to be settled as it was important to assess the full extent of Mrs Elly’s injuries before agreeing an appropriate sum of compensation.”
A dog owner has made an appeal to the court to clear a personal injury compensation claim being made against him after a jogger was left with a broken ankle in a terrible accident.
The court where the appeal was made have stated that the owner of the dog acted responsibly in the accident that led to the jogger sustaining a broken ankle and that it was an unforeseeable occurrence.
The jogger that was injured was left with a shattered ankle when he was knocked down by a Great Dane. The decision from the court came after an earlier case, where the animal owner was ordered to pay £15,000 in personal injury compensation and ordered to pay a further £25,000 in court costs.
The dog owner’s solicitor has commented on this case and said:
“The result of the findings would appear to lead to the conclusion that it is negligent to let a dog which a person might find intimidating off the lead, however safe that dog actually is.
“Most human activity bears some risk, but was it reasonably foreseeable… that his dog might cause any damage? This was a very responsible dog owner. He is an RSPCA man and was well aware of his responsibilities. He imposed a higher standard of care on himself than a reasonable dog owner would.”
A man who was severely injured in a road traffic accident which left him paralysed is claiming a substantial amount of personal injury compensation.
Mr David Went, who is 24 years of age from Northampton, was left permanently paralysed and wheelchair bound after he sustained extremely severe head injuries due to a road traffic accident in 2007.
It was heard that Mr Went was travelling as a passenger in an Audi A3 when the road traffic accident happened, when the vehicle crashed into a hedgerow causing it to overturn. The head injuries that Mr Went sustained were so severe that they led to multiple abrasions, an impairment of taste and smell and also with mild double vision.
Mr Went contacted his legal team after the accident happened and is looking to claim more than £300,000 in personal injury compensation from the driver of the Audi A3.
The driver of the vehicle, Mr Steven Larkins is said to have been speeding and also driving under the influence of alcohol.
Mr Went’s legal team have commented on this case and said he had been “travelling well in excess of the national speed limit of 60 mph and probably between 80 and 90 mph, and failed to steer a safe course, lost control and failed to have regard for his passengers’ safety.”
The Health and Safety Executive have recently issued a warning to all employers and employees after a wielder was involved in a fatal accident at work.
It was heard that the unnamed Norfolk wielder was electrocuted when the ship that he was working on became flooded and got into the electrical system and then killed him. The Health and Safety Executive have now warned employers to advise their staff about the importance of safety when they are working in confined spaces.
The employer of the Norfolk wielder who was tragically killed in the accident at work was taken to Norwich Crown Court, where they were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £34,744 in court costs.
A Health and Safety Inspector, Mr John Claxton has commented on this warning that came after this tragic accident at work and said:
“This death should make clear to all the extremely dangerous nature of the work in confined spaces. The procedures in place were inadequate for a known and well established risk and the incident was completely avoidable.
“The HSE wishes to make it clear that we expect the risks associated with this type of work to be properly managed in accordance with published guidance, whatever the size of the company. We will continue to take action against those who flout the law and put people’s lives at risk.”
A mother of a 15 year old boy has been awarded a substantial amount of personal injury compensation after suffering extremely severe head injuries in a road traffic accident.
It was heard that Sarah Caroline Russell, who is 53 years of age, was driving her 15 year old son to school in 2004 when the road traffic accident occurred. However, while mum and son were travelling along the vehicle skidded off the A29 due to a patch of ice.
Sarah Caroline Russell was lucky enough to get the vehicle back on the road again. However, she did not realise that there was an uneven verge in the road and she swerved back off the road, which then caused her to crash into a tree.
During court proceedings, where Mrs Sarah Caroline Russell was told by the Judge Jeremy McMullen QC that she should have taken more care whilst driving, and that she was partly to blame for the injuries she sustained, and that Mrs Russell was
“not driving in a way which was appropriate and safe for the conditions that day.”
The judge also said:
“It was plainly reasonable for the verge to be made up to the height of the road when the road height was increased in 2001. There was a duty to maintain that verge.”
A bank cashier has been awarded nearly £9,000 in personal injury compensation after she fractured her ankle due to an accident at work.
Mrs Jackie Edwards, who is from Basildon in Essex, has worked for Lloyds TSB for 5 years and had been seconded to the bank office to cover for a cashier. She was carrying 2 metal boxes from a safe in the bank when she fell whilst walking through an open door way. As a result of this accident at work, Mrs Edwards sprained her right ankle, which caused damage to her knee and she also fractured her left ankle.
After the accident at work, Mrs Edwards contacted her legal team and began a claim for personal injury compensation, as there were no signs warning employees of a potential hazard, and she wanted the correct health and safety procedures to implemented to prevent further accidents at work occurring.
Mrs Edwards, who also has a disabled son has commented on this accident at work and said:
“This accident meant I had to get help to care for my elderly mum and my disabled son. I was also unable to walk the dog or undertake my hobby speed walking.”
“I felt aggrieved I had to spend six months off work when this accident could have been avoided easily and I wanted to make sure no-one else suffered the same fate.”
A woman who was injured when travelling on a family cruise has been awarded personal injury compensation after she injured her wrist.
The unnamed woman, who is 46 years of age and from Accrington in Lancashire, was travelling on a 2 week cruise with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines when she fell on the second day of her holiday. It was heard that she was walking on the deck of the cruise ship when she had a slip, trip and fall accident on some ice cream that had melted on the deck, which appeared to have come from a machine that was faulty.
As a result of this slip, trip and fall accident she broke her wrist and was immediately taken to ships medical facility and then to a hospital in Monaco where her wrist was put in plaster.
The injured woman had to take several weeks off work, but when she returned to employment she had to continue with light duties for numerous months. Fortunately, her wrist has now healed, but she continues to suffer with pain, especially during periods of cold weather.
The injured woman’s husband has commented on this slip, trip and fall accident and said:
“This accident completely ruined our holiday and my wife was forced to take sick leave from her job. The cruise company should have replaced the faulty machine before such an accident could happen.”
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines admitted full liability for the injuries the woman sustained and she was awarded £10,000 in personal injury compensation.
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