Category: Safety & Compensation

1. Motorcycle Contributory Negligence

   Posted on 10:21am Thursday 20th Jun 2013

   This is an important issue that can affect a claim brought by a motorcyclist.

   In laymen’s terms it means that you have gone some way to contribute to your own injuries. For example, motorcycle contributory negligence can arise if you are riding without a helmet and without protective clothing and you are knocked from your motorcycle and injured, you will claim against the offending motorist.  

   You have fractured your skull and fractured your leg. The damages for the skull are say £10,000 and the leg £5,000. But whilst the broken leg is unavoidable in any instance, the judge will find that because of your failure to wear a helmet, that motorcycle contributory negligence was the reason why you broke your skull and it is therefore in the Judges’ eyes that you were responsible for your own demise. In this case he will award you for the broken leg but not the fractured skull.  

   Similarly even if you aren’t at fault when someone pulls out of a side road into your path, if it is proven that you were speeding at the time, the Judge will contribute some motorcycle contributory negligence to you. They usually do this in percentages, and in this instance he may award a reduction in your damages of fifty or more percent. So it is very important that you understand how this system works.

2. Motorcycle Accident Injury Solicitors

   Posted on 1:01pm Wednesday 12th Jun 2013

   Most people in their middle age had started out on motorcycles when British bikers rode British bikes.

   There were more brands of British bikes on the roads than any other in the world. Most bikers these days hardly remember them, and view them as museum pieces that only get polished and rode on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

   Our Motorcycle Solicitors haven’t just decided that motorcycle accidents are where the market is, it is something that is in their blood. It is something that they are passionate about, and something that they could not imagine their lives without. All our motorbike solicitors have chosen a career to assist fellow bikers get what is rightfully theirs after an accident.  

   The roads out there are a jungle, if not a battlefield between those who think they own the road and those who just want to use the road. On the roads there are aggressors and bikers. It’s no good trying to tell us how you felt threatened by the presence of a motorcyclist.

   We aren’t big enough to be aggressors, and that is why bikers are always on the lookout for cars making life threatening and sometimes silly maneuvers.   Motorcyclists injuries can mean dents in their legs and heads that can take years to repair, not to mention the damage to their motorcycles. This is where our bike riding solicitors understand what you are going through.  

   The car driver and other road users are a threatening menace to us motorcyclists; intentional or not. As you may be able to gather from this web page, there is a different mindset between the driver and us the motorcyclist.  

   Our basic instinct is one of survival. On the roads, the biker is bottom of the food chain, and we know it. People in cars treat juggernaut lorries with respect, because they know that they may come off worse in a collision. Car drivers seem to treat bikers with complete contempt, and that is the difference in understanding between a motoring accident lawyer and a motorcycle solicitor.  

   It is that understanding that allows us to put together a case that reflects the problems that bikers experience on the roads. It also assists our motorcycle solicitors in presenting your case successfully to a judge who may not be a biker himself.  

   Motorbikes and cars are two entirely different modes of transport and to that extent they must be treated differently. So it is essential that when you have a bike accident that you choose a motorbike solicitor.  

   We will say, “We are bikers, we understand, come and talk to us, it costs you nothing”  

   www.thebikerguide.co.uk/motorcycleaccidentsolicitors.html

3. ROAD HOGS FACING FINES AND POINTS

   Posted on 8:26am Wednesday 5th Jun 2013

   Drivers who hog the middle lane or tailgate other cars face on-the-spot  fines of £100 and three points on their licence under plans unveiled  today.

   Police are also expected to get powers to issue instant fixed penalty notices for not giving way at a junction or using the wrong lane at a  roundabout. Details of crackdown on anti-social motoring are due to be released by the Government in a statement to Parliament this morning.

   Transport minister Stephen Hammond told the Daily Telegraph: "Careless drivers are a menace and their negligence puts innocent people's lives  at risk. "That is why we are making it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers by allowing them to immediately issue a fixed penalty notice  rather than needing to take every offender to court. We are also increasing penalties for a range of driving offences to a level which reflects their seriousness and which will ensure that they  are consistent with other similar penalty offences."

   Until now such activity has generally gone unpunished because of the bureaucracy involved in prosecuting a case. A motorist has to be stopped by a police officer, a summons issued and evidence presented in court. Other changes being brought forward by the Government include increasing  the fine for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving or not wearing a seat belt from £60 to £100.

   The fixed penalty for driving without insurance is expected to double from £100 to £200. AA president Edmund King said: "An increase in the standard motoring fixed penalty fine will help deter those who commit motoring offences including mobile phone use. We are also pleased to see that at long last new powers and fines will be given to the police to tackle the top three pet hates of drivers - tailgaters, mobile phone abusers and middle-lane hogs."

   IAM comment:

   Institute of Advanced Motorists director of policy and research Neil Greig said: "This is a major change in traffic law enforcement and the IAM is concerned that issuing fixed penalty tickets for careless driving downplays the seriousness of the offence. Careless covers a wide range of poor to reckless driving behaviour that often merits further investigation.

   "This could free up traffic police time and allow them to maintain a higher profile. But without traffic cops out on the road to enforce this new approach it will have little impact on road safety."

    

4. Motorbike Injuries By Dr Rob Patterson

   Posted on 8:32am Sunday 2nd Jun 2013

   Whilst motorbikes provide one of the most cost effective and exciting means of transport on our roads today, they are not without draw backs.

   Their compact size mean they are less noticeable and their lack of protection is evident to all, especially to those who have been involved in an accident and sustained motorbike injuries. Wearing bright and protective clothing can help to modify these motorbike injury factors in order to make riding as safe as possible. 

   However, it is fact that accidents do and will unfortunately continue to occur. Motorbikes make up around 1% of UK traffic but motorbike injuries consist of 9% of all road casualties. They comprise 19% of those killed or seriously injured on the UKs roads and over 7% of those slightly injured, making bikers the most vunerable UK road user. Sadly as biking becomes more popular, this motorcycle injury percentage is slowly increasing. The most common motorcycle accident is when the driver of another vehicle fails to look properly.

   In 47% of motorbike accidents with a car, the driver of the car was at fault for not looking properly. This statistic increases to over 68% at junctions. Motorcyclists themselves as a group of road users are least likely not to look properly, being at fault for this in only 16% of accidents.  

   Insurance injury claims on the part of bikers count for less that 1% of claims and their claim freqency is almost two thirds less that that of car drivers. However, when loss of earnings, motorbike injuries and medical costs are factored in, the personal cost of an accident may be much more than just the bike and clothing that needs replacing.  

   Common motorbike injuries include whiplash, ‘road rash’ and upper and lower limb fractures. These motorbike injuries are seldom minor and often require hospital treatment and operations.  Most commonly, hospitals operate on bikers who have sustained lower limb, upper limb and neck injuries.   

   Dr Rob Patterson   M.B. Ch.B.  D.R.C.O.G.

5. Petition to make Scotland's roads safer for all‏

   Posted on 10:24am Saturday 1st Jun 2013

   Cycle Law Scotland has started a petition to encourage the Scottish Government to:  "Pass a bill for strict liability in collisions between motorists and cyclists and cyclists and pedestrians" and needs your help to get it off the ground.  

   Here's the link:

   Here's why it's important:

   The bill is designed to protect the most vulnerable road users and to reflect a hierarchy of road users. It would be applied in Civil Law cases for road traffic collisions between motorists and cyclists and similarly between cyclists and pedestrians. To that end, the campaign also sets out to highlight the dangers cyclists face from motorists and help facilitate a change in attitude amongst road users to one based on mutual respect and understanding.  

   We are only one of a very small number of countries (Romania, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland) across Europe, who do not operate such a system of strict liability for vulnerable road users and yet it is not unprecedented in UK law.