Traditionally, age brings with it wisdom – and the respect of others. But what if you’re 84 years old and you’re accused of telling lies "in court"? It's one thing to exaggerate, for example, medical symptoms caused by an accident - but to invent them? Here's an anonymised true story of a case we dealt with and how a scenario of that nature played out in practice. Our client was injured after she fell into an excavation that had been made by a national utilities company. It was right outside her garden gate. There were no warning signs in place. Our client had a registered sight impairment. She opened her gate, minding her own business, took one step and suddenly down she went. After her accident, the utilities company covered the trench with hard plastic matting so it was impossible for pedestrians to fall in. If they had done that before the accident, it could not have happened. We alleged that the utilities company had been negligent and that had caused our Continue Reading
When it can be your fault for driving through a green light
You’re in a rush. It’s a dark, wet Monday morning in January. You want to cross the main road on foot at traffic lights, using the pedestrian crossing there; but the lights are green for vehicles - and red for you to cross. On the approach to the traffic lights for vehicles, there are two bus stops. It’s a predominantly residential area. You decide you have to risk crossing on red. Dashing onto the crossing, you suddenly realise an approaching car is bearing down on you. It’s about 5m away and travelling close to the speed limit of 30mph. Your brain freezes with panic. You've misjudged the speed of the oncoming vehicle. You’re rooted to the spot. Paralysed with fear. It's too late to get out of the way. Though the car driver instinctively swerves to avoid you, having only noticed you late, the collision is inevitable. The impact throws you up onto the bonnet. Your head hits the nearside windscreen, causing a “bullseye” break in the glass - i.e. a spider’s web-like Continue Reading
How the Cost of Living Crisis affects the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim
In July 1971, a sliced white loaf of bread would have cost you 10 pence. In July 2021 the cost would have been £1.06. The Retail Price Index ("RPI") shows an average cost for the same loaf of bread as £1.36 in July 2023. The rise in prices over time is known as inflation. It can also be described as the decline of purchasing power over time. In the present Cost of Living Crisis, the upward trend in prices is affecting most things and that includes personal injury compensation (compensation also sometimes referred to as “damages”). The injury part - for the "pain and suffering" associated with the injuries - of a personal injury compensation claim is just one element of the value of the claim as a whole. Other elements can include wage loss and necessary travel expenses. In this article, we are only discussing the injury part of personal injury claims. This can be variously described as "pain and suffering", General Damages and solatium. Continue Reading
A cautionary tale about dangers from weedkiller in Moray
Usually, a headline like that warns you about possible dangers from your own carelessness. It’s much worse than that here, unfortunately. This article contains a warning about how you – and especially your pets – might be at risk from lack of care on the part of your own local authority. The practices of Moray’s local authority in relation to weed killing mean pet owners must be extra vigilant. Rinaldo Coluccia’s 8-year-old German Shepherd dog, Honey, died as a result of ingesting Glyphosate (a herbicide) beside “The Walkies” path (by the A96) in Forres. The Council had treated the area in order to destroy Giant Hogweed plants. The Council’s risk assessment provided that warnings should be given to the public where areas had recently been sprayed. “Control measures” within the risk assessment included: “Keep pets on lead when passing area (sic) which have had herbicide application recently.“, and “Prevent pets from eating/chewing vegetation applied with Continue Reading