Rural roads account for over 70% of fatal accidents, according to statistics published by RoSPA. In Scotland, trunk roads, such as the A9 and A96, are maintained by independent companies but more minor roads are the responsibility of local authorities. Of course, the more minor roads tend to have a greater amount of bends and ups and downs. The increased dangers for drivers are obvious: whether it’s from other traffic, such as slow-moving farm vehicles, or from the state of the road itself. Roads authorities can rarely be blamed for accidents A Court of Session decision from June 2012 – arising out of a tragic accident in North-east Scotland - has provided a reminder of the considerable limitations on local authorities’ duties and the emphasis that is placed on the personal responsibility of the individual driver. In these cash-strapped times, the duties the law imposes on local authorities to maintain road markings and signage are not likely to increase in the foreseeable Continue Reading
Fatal Accident Claims: Different in Scotland
On 16 July 2009, Peter McGee fell down the stairs at his home in Springburn, Glasgow. Two days later, he died in hospital as a result of complications from his injuries. His wife, Catherine, and other family members raised an action in the Court of Session against RJK Building Services Ltd, who had carried out joinery work at the property on the instructions of Glasgow City Council, Mr and Mrs McGee’s landlords. In an Opinion issued on 18 January 2013, Lord Drummond Young found that RJK were to blame for Mr McGee’s injuries and death because they had been negligent in the way they fitted a handrail on the stairs. The handrail had come loose from the wall as Mr McGee descended the stairs, causing him to fall. A lengthy marriage At the time of his death, Mr McGee was 71 years old. His wife was a few months younger than him. They had been married for 36 years. An area of personal injury law where Scotland is different Personal injury law is applied identically or Continue Reading
Denial of Compensation and Justice: Enterprising Reform
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, currently going through the Westminster Parliament, might not sound to you as though it should have much to do with personal injury law but it does. Specifically, it is claims for injury arising from accidents at work that are potentially affected and the consequences are significant. A late amendment was introduced to the Bill by the Government in October 2012, without consultation. If this new provision becomes law, the effect will be to make breaches of health and safety regulations – which currently give rise to civil liability on the part of employers – no longer actionable. UK health and safety law has undergone a revolution particularly in the last 20 years as a result of workplace directives and regulations from the EU. This is sometimes referred to as unnecessary “red tape” but the fact is that the number of workplace accidents has reduced significantly as a result of developments in the law throughout the whole of the 20th century. Continue Reading
Contributory Negligence or Entirely Your Own Fault?
Hitting a detonator with a hammer to see what happens. Does that (bang) sound to you like a good idea? There are some situations where an injured person’s own conduct seems quite foolhardy in the circumstances and yet they have still been able to get compensation for their losses. In some situations, though, the claimant’s own conduct can be seen as such an overwhelming cause of their injury that it is taken to be the only cause having any legal effect – and the injured person in that type of case is often said to be ‘the author of their own injury’. A finding of that nature means your claim fails. In a Scottish case reported in 1957 (Donaghy –v- National Coal Board), a young miner sued his employers for damages for injuries which he suffered when he exploded a detonator by striking it with a hammer. He alleged that he had done this in the belief that, if struck sharply, a detonator would do no more than make a harmless noise. This claim did not succeed. The judge in Continue Reading