There are many different ways in which road traffic accidents can happen. You can be involved in a collision with a vehicle as a pedestrian, as a passenger, or as a driver of a vehicle.
Passenger
If you are a passenger of a vehicle then the reality is that you should always recover compensation provided that, at the time of the accident, you knew no reason to doubt the ability of the driver to control the vehicle. However, if you knew that the vehicle was being used uninsured this may be a bar to you recovering compensation.
Pedestrian
You can recover compensation as a pedestrian even if you are crossing the road at a place where there is no pedestrian crossing. Liability is likely to find against the driver on some level even if he didn’t have a chance to stop provided you can show that you were far enough in the road for him to have noticed you, and that a reasonable driver would have slowed down in normal circumstances and then stopped.
Uninsured
You can recovery compensation even if the other driver is uninsured. You can also recover compensation if the driver leaves the scene. These instances are dealt with by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and you are entitled to compensation for your injuries and in certain other cases loss of earnings as well.
Hire Vehicle
If your vehicle is damaged and off the road as a consequence of somebody else’s fault then you are entitled to hire an alternative vehicle whilst you are waiting for your car to be repaired. You have to make sure that your own vehicle is repaired as quickly as possible and the hire account is kept to a minimum. You are only entitled to hire a vehicle which is comparable to the one that you have lost and the cost of the hire can then be passed on to the insurers of the vehicle that caused the accident.
If you don’t want to recover compensation for a hire vehicle then you can recover compensation for inconvenience and/or loss of use of the vehicle and/or bus or taxi fares.
Loss of earnings
Loss of earnings can be recovered even if you are self-employed and even if you have no accounts or books to support your claim for loss of earnings. For instance if you are a taxi driver and you want to recover compensation this can still be done without the books, provided you can access your tax returns.
If you are an employee then all that needs to be done is that a letter from your employer can be obtained to show the loss of earnings for you. You can only recover loss of earnings in the sum that you would have recovered after you have paid tax and National Insurance on your earnings.
Injuries
Injuries that can be common in road traffic accidents are neck and back injuries (sometimes called whiplash injuries), head injuries, facial injuries and bruising to the body. Sometimes in more serious accident fractures to feet, hands, legs and arms can occur.
To prove the injuries sometimes medical records can be obtained from hospitals and GPs
Different Kinds Of Road Traffic Accidents
There are as many different kinds of road accident as there are vehicles. All are different in some way but they do tend to fall into one of these categories:-
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Hit from behind
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Hit at crossroads
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Head on collision
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Hit by vehicle whilst overtaking
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Collision at roundabout
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Another vehicle comes out of a side road
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Causes of Accidents
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Not keeping a proper lookout when driving
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Overtaking when not safe
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Turning when unsafe
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Not looking in mirror before turning right or left
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The Highway Code
The Highway Code can be used as a guide to how you should behave when driving If you breach the Highway Code then the chances are that you are at least partly responsible for the accident.
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Contributory Negligence
Courts and insurers look at liability for accidents in percentage terms. If you are totally to blame then you are 100% to blame. However if you are only half to blame then you are 50% to blame. Being partly to blame is sometimes called by lawyers “contributory negligent”. If your injury is worth £10,000 and you are to blame 50% (or 50% contributory negligent) then you will only receive half of your damages.
If you fail to wear a seat belt in a road traffic accident and you are injured then you can lose up to 25% of your damages for your injuries that would not have occurred if you had worn your seat belt.
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