Road traffic accident claims involve any incident where a motor vehicle is involved. Accidents involving cars, between cars and cycles or motorcycles and pedestrian injuries would all loosely be called road traffic accidents.
What if the other car isn’t insured?
All cars on the roads in the UK have to have compulsory insurance to cover them for the risk of being in an accident and causing damage to another vehicle or person. Unfortunately many people chose not to have this insurance and although that is a criminal offence, practically speaking, you will not be able to claim against that person for any injury or damage they might have caused, unless of course they have the financial means to pay you. In those circumstances you can make a claim to an organisation called the Motor Insurers Bureau so you may still receive compensation for your injury.
What do I have to show in order to get compensation for my injuries?
If you are in a car, you have to show that someone else is to blame for your accident. If you are a passenger then it can be relatively straightforward; it could be the driver of your car or the other motorist. If you are a driver of a car, then you have to be able to show that the other motorist was responsible. If the other motorist drove into the rear of your car, then that is a relatively straightforward example where someone else may be to blame. In other situations liability for an accident may be less clear cut, for example accidents at traffic lights were each driver blames the other for travelling through a red light.
Other road accidents can involve motorcyclists. One of the more common accidents involve cars driving out of side roads into the path of oncoming motorcycles and if you have been involved in that sort of accident, you may be able to claim against the car driver.
Passengers in taxis and buses can also be injured in a road traffic accident. Bus passengers can be jolted and thrown from their seats when collisions or “near misses” happen.
Pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable set of road users and in a collision with a car, the injuries can often be very serious. Depending on the accident circumstances, compensation can be sought from the other motorist. Obviously the facts of each case are different but in a straightforward case of a pedestrian using a pedestrian crossing in the correct manner being hit by a car, a surprisingly common type of accident, compensation for the injury will usually follow.
What to do in the event of a road traffic accident.
It is important to collect all the details of the vehicles involved in the accident, registration details, name and address details and if possible the names and addresses of any witnesses. Seek medical attention for your injuries as soon as practicable. Whiplash type injuries can take some hours to develop, so whilst you may not immediately feel any ill effects, they can arise later on.
What sort of compensation can I expect?
Whilst the newspapers will lead you to think that the “compensation culture” is rife, compensation amounts for the smaller injuries can be relatively modest and in many cases much less than the cost of damage to the vehicles involved. For a whiplash type injury with the effects lasting around twelve months, the compensation will likely be around two to three thousand pounds depending on the medical evidence. Compensation for loss of earnings and other expenses can also be sought if they are connected with the accident.
Compensation for the more serious injuries like fractures and head injuries can run into many thousands of pounds.
AccidentClaims.net retain a specialist panel of solicitors able to help you if you wish to pursue a claim for injuries arising out of a road accident if that has occurred within the last three years.