Types of Road Traffic Accident Claims…

Whiplash Compensation

Most road accidents in the UK do not result in serious injury. By far the most common accidental injury on Great Britain roads is whiplash. It is possible to receive road accident compensation for whiplash in Scotland, England, and Wales. This usually falls under general damages in a road accident compensatory claim. However, no matter how you feel at the sight of the accident, to be compensated fully under UK law you will need to see a medical professional to assess your injury. You will most likely not receive accident compensation unless you have seen a medical specialist about your injury. Even if you feel fine, seeing a medical expert can help you with your road compensation later on down the road, especially if the medical personnel find something that you are unaware of.

Whiplash occurs when the head is suddenly moved sideways, forward, or backward. The sudden motion, often occurring accidentally during a car accident, forces the vertebrae out of normal function and position by putting the spine's framework out of its normal limits. This can be very painful immediately, or it can take a few days to manifest. Either way, if you see a medical expert as soon as you experience the pain, it is easier to receive accidents compensation for your whiplash injury under U.K. law. When whiplash happens, the ligaments, muscles, and tendons may be overstretched, or even torn. Sometimes the discs of the spine, which act as shock absorbers, can be torn or ruptured. They may even just bulge. All of these are problems that can possibly cause long-term problems so sufficient and expert medical attention is imperative.

Symptoms of whiplash include headache, blurred vision, neck pain, dizziness, muscle spasms in arm, shoulder, and/or hands, lower back problems, and reduced function in turning and bending. It is possible for the party at fault to compensate you for difficulties and medical treatment arising from whiplash as part of a road claim. However, you must be able to prove that your medical difficulties are the result of whiplash injuries suffered from an accident where the other party was at fault. This requires a medical examination, and may also require proof that your whiplash related injuries are severe enough to prevent your going to work for a period of time (allowing you to claim compensation for lost salary) or that the whiplash is affecting your quality of life.

Uninsured & Untraced Drivers

Even though the UK requires that drivers carry proper insurance, a high number of the millions of cars driven in Great Britain do not adhere to the rule and the number of uninsured drivers is on the rise. This means that you may be in a car accident, or even two or more car accidents, with someone who is not insured properly or even at all.

Car injuries and Road accident injuries are a serious matter to consider, as costs incurred from accident injuries can add up. However, there are ways to be compensated for personal injury car accident claims even if your car injury is the result of someone who does not carry sufficient insurance to cover personal injuries they cause during a car accident. Worst still are untraced motorists who cause damage to other people's property and cause, sometimes severe, injuries yet take off as not getting into trouble is more important to them than checking the well-being of the person they have crashed their vehicle into.

Claiming accident injuries in such cases means that you will need to make an insurance claim through another means. In the UK, the compensation amount for each eligible car accident claim involving accidental damage (as well as accident claims involving personal injury) can vary. In some cases, a personal car is covered if the car belonging to the claimant has become unfit for driving. A replacement car or the use of a hired car can often be claimed whilst the merits of your claim are being established. This will often already be paid for by your insurance company but you need to make sure that such is covered before hiring one as the insurer will normally have their own suppliers.

Accident injury can be quite costly (even though some personal accidents in cars that take place in the United Kingdom do not result in serious accident injuries) but injury claims can offset the damage. If you are not personally at fault for a personal accident, and the driver who accidentally hit your car does not have insurance, you can usually still file an injury claim with the MIB (Motor Insurer's Bureau) which has been set up, and is funded by, all insurance companies in the UK. They will treat your claim as if they were the third party that you could either not find (untraced drivers) or did not have insurance (uninsured motorists).

Child Road Accidents

Around 5,000 children under the age of 16 die or are seriously injured on Britain’s roads each year. Nearly two in three road accidents happen when children are walking or playing. Almost two-thirds of child accident victims are boys, as a child gets older the risk of a road accident increases. A child from a low-income family is five times more likely than a child from a high-income family to be killed on the road.

Children from an ethnic minority are involved in up to twice as many accidents while walking or playing as the national average. The risk of being involved in a road accident when walking or playing is more than 10 times greater for a child with hearing difficulties.

Pre-school children are least at risk of death or injury on the road. One reason is the almost universal use of car seats for the very young. As children grow older, however, they are more likely to travel without using a belt, or to use adult belts without a booster cushion, and casualties increase. Child restraints must also be used properly if they are to save young lives.

This is not always the case. A study by the AA and Devon County Council found that 24 per cent of child car seats were too loose, 21 per cent of the harnesses were too loose, and 21 per cent of the buckles were not fitted properly. Rear-facing infant seats reduce the risk of fatal injury in a crash by more than 70 per cent, forward-facing toddler seats by more than 50 per cent and safety belts by 45 per cent. In the USA only 10 per cent of children under the age of five travel unrestrained – but they account for more than half of child deaths in cars. As children grow older, the risk of them being killed or seriously injured in a traffic accident outside the car – while walking and playing, for example – increases much faster than for those travelling by car. 

Eighty per cent of accidents involving children occur during the school holidays, at weekends, and in the afternoon and evening on school days. Because so many parents take special care, the journey to school does not constitute a high risk for children aged under 11. Very few accidents occur outside the school itself. As children grow older, they become more independent, and spend more time away from home.

Casualty rates rise with the longer evenings: on summer days, deaths and serious injuries to children can be up to 20 per cent higher than in winter. Children in inner-city areas are at much greater risk. They make more journeys on foot and spend more time playing in the street because there are fewer play areas. There are also more cars parked in the street, reducing visibility and making crossing the road more hazardous.

Most child victims live in the area where the traffic accident happened. But the older the child, the further from home the accident tends to be. For more information on making a child accident claim please go to our sister website: www.childrensaccidenthelpline.com

Passengers injured in road accidents in cars or on public transport

Passengers that are involved in accidents are legally in a very strong position.
Unless a you as a passenger somehow contributed to the accident itself, which is of course unlikely, you will be regarded as an innocent party.

You will therefore recover your damages without any liability issues being raised. The driver of the vehicle you are travelling in as a passenger owes you a substantial duty of care and so for that matter do other drivers and other road users. If this duty is breached and you suffer personal injury through no fault of your own then it is entirely appropriate that you seek road accident compensation. Our Panel Solicitors can help you with your claim and they have an excellent team of road accident specialist solicitors at your disposal.

Whether you were a bus passenger injured in an accident, a car passenger (taxi fare paying passenger) or even motorcycle pillion rider - we may be able to help you claim compensation. We also have a specialist whiplash claim team at your disposal. Making a passenger accident claim with us will not cost you a penny (England & Wales only) so please make your enquiry today. Our panel can deal with any accident involving passengers in cars, taxi's, buses or pillion passengers on motorcycles. We can also advise you where to receive much needed treatment for whiplash and other injuries. Why not make your enquiry now - you have nothing to pay and nothing to lose when you instruct us to deal with your claim.

Bus Accident Compensation Claims

If you are involved in an accident and are injured whilst a passenger on a bus it is possible to make a claim against the person who caused the accident. However, one needs to be able to prove negligence on the part of either the Bus Driver or any other motorist or party involved.

You should always take details of the bus you were travelling on, the time and place of the accident and the name or number of the driver and the registration number and route number of the bus. You should try to obtain details of any witnesses to the accident, such as other passengers on the bus. If another driver was responsible for the incident then you should obtain their name and address and vehicle details also.
It may be wise to involve the police if you are injured, as all injury accidents should be notified to the police.

Any injury should be reported to the driver immediately and to the bus operator or company as soon as possible after the accident. You should always keep your ticket to prove that you were on the bus in question at the time of the incident.

All buses are required to insure in accordance with the Road Traffic Act 1988, just the same as private cars, although some bus companies may be self insured. This does not affect your right to claim.

Motorcycle & Motorbike Accident Compensation Claims

Motorcycle accidents can result in personal injuries ranging from minor whiplash to serious brain injury, or worse. Whatever type of motorcycle accident you have suffered you are entitled to claim compensation if someone else was at fault (although, generally, the accident must have occurred within the last 3 years).

• • Collision with another vehicle

• • Falls from trying to avoid a vehicle

• • Falls from hitting a defect in the road

• • Pedestrian being hit by a vehicle
  
  In most Motorcycle accident claims, the person's insurance company who was at fault pays compensation. Even in the case of an uninsured or 'hit and run' driver it is possible to claim compensation through the Motor Insurers Bureau, an organisation established to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured or untraced motorists.

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  If the cause of the accident is a result of road disrepair - a motorcycle or bicycle wheel hitting a pothole in the road for example - a claim for compensation can be made against the authorities who are responsible for the repair and maintenance of public roads. Road defects can be due to faulty road design, disrepair, inadequate maintenance, or failure to remove a road hazard. The highway authority or local council are obliged to keep the condition of roads and pavements up to a reasonable standard by way of a regular inspection regime and a subsequent program of repairs. If they fail to do so and injury occurs then they can be held liable to pay compensation.

  
  
  

  My Car accident Solicitors are experienced in dealing with the vast range of injury types sustained from Motorcycle accidents, through cuts and bruises, whiplash and broken bones, to head injury, spinal injury, and fatalities. Tragic events such as brain damage and spinal injuries are potentially the most serious, with long-term consequences on the lives of the victim and their family. My Car Accident solicitors are accredited by the national brain injury association Headway as specialists in this field. They will ensure you receive the best compensation and medical treatment your injury demands. Once liability has been established, our network of medical consultants will provide you with priority appointments to make certain you receive the vital medical advice, treatment and rehabilitation when you need it, rather than when it is too late.
  
  

  Motorcycle accident claims are often complex, especially if there are no independent witnesses and both sides blame each other - it is important that a specialist represents you. To find out if you have a Motorcycle accident claim, simply call our freephone number or complete the online enquiry form or visit our sister website which deals solely with motorbike accident claims

Pedal cyclist accident claims

If you have been injured in an accident whilst riding a pedal bike, this section may help you decide whether or not you may have a claim for compensation. There is a useful case study below that may also be of interest. We would strongly recommend any injured accident victim to seek immediate legal advice on their situation.

Interesting cycling facts
More than 3.5 million cycles were sold in 2007 up from 2.8 million in the year 2000. The UK's ever expanding cycle lane network now stretches to 12,000 miles. The average cost of maintaining a pedal bike is no more than £75. source - Sustrans)

You can see why cycling has become so popular - particularly in an age of increasing economic uncertainty. 

STATISTICS NEWS UPDATE for 2006 (Released July 2007): Pedal cyclist casualties fell from 16,561 in 2005 to 16,196, a drop of 2%. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell by 1% overall to 2296, and the number of fatalities fell marginally by 1% to 146.

The majority of the cyclist accidents that we deal with involve other road users simply failing to see the cyclist. If you are a cyclist and have suffered personal injury in an accident that was not your fault - you may be entitled to claim compensation. If you want an independent view on your compensation prospects following an accident please telephone our accident claim line today.

Your case will need careful management - we have a team of road accident compensation Solicitors who specialise in these claims. With My Car Accident, our Solicitor Panel will deal with your claim free of charge. (England & Wales only) and ensure that your needs are fully catered for.

Call us now on 0800 327 7919, or complete the form opposite and we will contact you to discuss your traffic accident claim.