Diane Parker is a director and joint head of personal injury. She’s been a solicitor for 32 years and deals with a very wide range of personal injury claims.

We asked Diane to tell us about some of the road traffic accident cases she’s dealt with over the years.

“There are always cases involving pedestrians, often with quite significant injuries. I acted for Mrs J, a pensioner on her way to bingo in Bentley. She and a friend had ordered a minicab to take them to the social club. They had just got out of the cab when the driver decided to reverse. He clipped Mrs J as he did so, knocking her into the road and then reversed over her legs. Seemingly oblivious, it appeared he was going to carry on and run over her again with his front wheels until the actions of other bingo goers managed to prevent him from doing so.

One of the very first personal injury cases I ever dealt with involved Mrs B, another pensioner, knocked over crossing the road in Goldthorpe. The driver had turned into the road that she had nearly finished crossing and clipped her, causing a broken leg. Interestingly, this was a case that shows the level of training of insurance assessors – as the case was defended for quite some time, despite Rule 170 of the Highway Code, apparently widely unknown to motorists, that states that pedestrians crossing the road into which a vehicle has turned, take priority.

Even more outrageous are the pedestrian crossing cases. There is often an argument between parties about whether the green man was showing or not. In a case of mine involving Mr S, an Edlington pensioner, we were lucky to have a couple of independent witnesses, including a driver travelling in the opposite direction, who were able to confirm that the Defendant had run the red light, because the client’s injuries were so severe that he couldn’t give instructions. 

The one advantage to road traffic claims is the guarantee of some recovery due to the Motor Insurers Bureau which ensures compensation for injuries can be recovered even where the offending motorist is not insured, or in the case of my last example, is untraced.

Mr F was coming home from an evening out at his local in Balby. Having had a jar or two he decided, as the roads were quiet, to cross the dual carriageway, rather than using the subway. Half way across he was hit by a speeding motorist, who didn’t stop. The police never traced the driver, but Mr F was able to recover compensation for his fractured elbow thanks to the Untraced Drivers Scheme run by the MIB.”

Been injured on the road?  If you’ve been injured like any of Diane’s clients, speak to our friendly team and lets see if we can help you get your life back on track. Call 01302 320621 or email help@switalskis.com