Street tripping accident claim
If your accident was the result of a slip, trip or fall on the pavement / public highway, you may be able to bring a claim against the local council or highway authority.
It will be necessary to show that the pavement was in a dangerous condition and that this caused the injury.
Sometimes lawyers wrongly advise that this means the pavement you tripped on has to be one inch or so higher than the surrounding road.
Lawyers at Clear Answers have won claims this year where the tripping danger measured less than an inch, where it could be shown it posed a clear danger anyway.
It is however true it helps greatly to have a photograph and measurement of what you tripped on taken as soon after the accident as possible and the greater the tripping hazard, the better the chance of success. If an accident happens, wherever possible always keep a record and take photographs if possible; this is particularly important with pavement trips where you should also include a photograph with a ruler against the edge of the tripping point to demonstrate the precise dimensions of the hazard, plus a photograph to illustrate the exact location of the fall; take the names and home addresses of witnesses; keep evidence of doctors visited and treatments, and keep receipts for any injury related.
Exactly the same legal principles apply to cyclists or pedestrians who fall due to potholes in the road.
Defences to your claim and how to overcome them
The highway authority may be able to avoid liability if it can demonstrate that it has taken all reasonable care by having a proper system of inspection and repair. It helps to have local witnesses who can confirm the pavement in question has been in disrepair for some time. Sometimes the council or highway authority will produce documents which seem to show they have a cast iron defence that they inspected for hazards shortly before the accident but proper investigation and argument can turn such a case around, as we have successfully done at a trial this year:
PUBLIC LIABILITY CASES:
Street tripping cases:
We won a case where the defendant used the normally " cast iron " legal defence that the pavement had been inspected two days before the accident and the "defect" which caused the fall was only 20 mm - less than an inch, often used by lawyers as the standard at which a pavement trip case will fail.
We brought evidence that the pavement rocked making the 20 mm defect greater and more dangerous.
We also had witnesses who confirmed the paving stone had been in similar poor repair for months prior to the accident and that he had made calls to the council to complain.
The judge accepted the Council should have spotted and dealt with the hazard and the Claimant won.
This case was won at Brentford County Court on 2 nd December 2004.
We have just won an almost identical case in Newcastle upon Tyne County Court in October 2005 where the Judge accepted photos and witnesses who suggested a hazard had existed for a long time was to be preferred to paper evidence that the Council had inspected the pavement before the accident - and spotted nothing.
CYCLIST AND POTHOLE IN ROAD
The claimant was cycling along the road when she pulled out towards the middle to pass a parked car. She looked over her shoulder to check for traffic behind her and after passing the car steered back towards the kerb. As she did so the front wheel of her bicycle went down a pot hole in the road.
The accident occurred on 22 April. The defendants denied liability and said they had inspected the road on 22 March 2002 which in theory set up a cast iron defence under the Highways Act 1980. These reports had identified various faults in the street and the subsequent repair work.
However our client had taken a photograph of the defect one week after the accident, which showed a substantial pot hole. The Judge concluded from the photos that the size of the defect made it highly unlikely that it had developed since the inspection one month prior to the accident. The inspector must have missed it. So, he found that defence in law failed and the Claimant won.
This case was heard at Manchester County Court this year.
If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Clear Answers to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury, ensuring that the entire procedure is cost-free for yourself. Telephone us now on 0800 783 9019 or complete one of our online compensation claim forms.
Copyright © Clear Answers 2002 - 2008.