Keen cyclist receives £8,000 after head on collision with motorist who drove on wrong side of the road
Mr C was fortunate not to receive significant injuries following a road traffic accident when an elderly motorist crossed the central reservation, into his path, causing a head on collision.
Mr C’s Injuries
In August 2021, Mr C, a keen cyclist, was on a bike ride in Plymouth when he was faced head on with a car, which had crossed the central reservation and was travelling towards him in his lane, leaving him nowhere to go. Mr C hit the front of the Defendant’s vehicle and went over the bonnet and hit the windscreen before falling off into the road. Many other vehicles stopped and the emergency services were called. Mr C was taken to hospital by ambulance, where he was checked over.
Fortunately, Mr C’s injuries were relatively minor but included a soft tissue injury to his right shoulder, right knee, right foot and right arm. He also suffered bruising and grazes.
The Settlement
At the time of the accident, Mr C was riding his carbon fibre bike with a value of around £4000. He was also wearing appropriate cycling clothing, his cycling helmet and had a Garmin Edge cycling computer attached to the bike.
Mr C’s accident occurred just after the implementation of the new reforms governing road traffic accident claims which came into force on 31 May 2021. The Official Injury Claim (OIC) is a service supporting individuals to make and settle their own personal injury claim, where that claim is related to a road traffic accident and is valued at £5,000 or less.
Marie Oxland at Nash & Co Solicitors Personal Injury Team, who acted for Mr C, explains that clients get very confused as to whether or not a solicitor will act on their behalf following their involvement in a road traffic accident. As a general rule, they should always speak to an independent solicitor before embarking on a claim themselves, especially where there is any reason to believe the injury claim is worth more than £5,000. There are also a number of exemptions to the new reforms, which meant that we could assist Mr C. These include:
the road traffic accident happened before 31 May 2021
the road traffic accident happened outside England and Wales. You can therefore instruct a solicitor if the accident happened in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or even Europe
your injury is worth more than £5,000 or the total value of your claim, including your financial losses (vehicle related losses, loss of earnings, treatment costs etc)
you are a “vulnerable road user*”
the person who is at fault is not a road user, e.g. if you claim against the owner of an animal that escapes onto the highway causing an accident or a claim against a highway authority under the Highways Act 1980
your accident was with a driver who has not been identified i.e. a “hit and run”. Your claim in this circumstance, would need to be submitted to the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB)
you or the person you are pursuing your claim against (the Defendant) acts as a personal representative of a deceased person
you are making a claim on behalf of a child
you or the person at fault is a protected party, i.e. a person who lacks capacity to conduct the proceedings under the Mental Capacity Act 2005
you are bankrupt
the person at fault’s vehicle is registered outside the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland)
you can argue the injury was caused by lack of health and safety procedures. For example, if the accident happened whilst you were working, you can claim as an employee against your employer even though on face value it looks like a road traffic accident. It may be that there has been a breach of duty related to, for example, a failure to risk assess, train, supervise or provide you with suitable work equipment
Mr C was a “vulnerable road user” as he was riding a bicycle at the time of his accident, and therefore his claim was not governed by the new rules and he was entitled to legal representation.
Mr C was fortunate that he was able to fund his own private physiotherapy and the cost that he paid for his treatment was included within his claim for financial losses. Also included within his financial losses was the damage to his carbon fibre bike, his cycling equipment and his onboard computer.
Marie Oxland comments that the majority of her clients who are cyclists pay many thousands of pounds for their bikes and they require specialist inspection to detect damage. This involves the bike being x-rayed to detect minute fractures to the frame which make it unroadworthy and in most cases, a write off as it cannot usually be repaired. Repair costs to these bikes tend to far outweigh their value. On high end bikes, even the wheels have to be x-rayed to be inspected for damage.
Mr C’s bike was examined by a specialist firm who advised that the repairs outweighed the purchase price and therefore the bike was a write off. The bike was only two years old and had been purchased shortly before the Covid 19 pandemic. Whilst Mr C was not entitled to a new for old replacement, and some allowance would be made for depreciation, the cost of him replacing the bike with a second-hand alternative would cost more than the original purchase price as, due to the pandemic, the cost of bikes had appreciated. This also applied to his replacement clothing and on-board computer.
Whilst damages for the Mr C’s injuries were agreed, the Defendant’s insurers wished to make significant reductions from his financial losses for wear and tear. Court proceedings were commenced and at a final hearing, Marie Oxland successfully argued that there should be no reduction for wear and tear as the cost of replacing the items, including the bike, even with second hand replacements, would cost Mr C more than the original purchase prices due to appreciation.
*You will be treated as “vulnerable” if, at the time the accident, you were:
riding a motorcycle
pillion passenger on, or a passenger in a sidecar attached to a motorcycle
using a wheelchair, a powered wheelchair or a mobility scooter
using a bicycle or other pedal cycle
riding a horse
a pedestrian
