Notable Cases
Motorcyclist recovers compensation exceeding £1million
Following a tense all day settlement meeting, the Catastrophic Injury team, headed by Lee Hart, was able to conclude a claim for injury upon payment exceeding £1million in compensation.
The collision occurred on a bend of an A road near Bristol on August 2005. Our client was riding a 600cc motorcycle, travelling north, while the defendant, driving an articulated lorry, had been travelling in the opposite direction.
The defendant had wanted to stop at a lay-by on the opposite side of the road. The lay-by was close to a bend in the road which limited visibility to motorists. The lorry driver turned right into the opposite carriageway.
Our client came round the bend and on seeing the defendant’s lorry blocking his path, applied his brakes. His motorcycle skidded and our client went on to collide with the lorry, sustaining devastating injuries, including a spinal cord injury, a mild
Liability for the collision was denied by the lorry driver and his representatives. It was argued that the defendant was performing a legal manoeuvre in crossing the double white lines to enter the lay-by and that having commenced his manoeuvre, there was nothing he could have done to avoid our oncoming client.
The defendant alleged that our client was travelling considerably in excess of the 50mph speed limit and that he been travelling at, or below, the speed limit he would have been able to stop prior to collision.
The critical issue in the case was a very narrow one: was it was reasonable for the defendant to perform the manoeuvre in the first place? Although he could see that the road was clear ahead, should he have envisaged the possibility of a vehicle approaching from around the bend ahead at a speed in excess of the limit for the road?
There were risks for both parties. If a Judge found that the lorry driver had been negligent in commencing the manoeuvre, an assessment may have been made as to the extent to which our client had contributed to the outcome by reason of his own actions.
If a Judge found that the lorry driver had done nothing wrong, then our client would have recovered no compensation at all.
After a long day of negotiations, our client was pleased to accept an offer of settlement in excess of £1million.