SAVE OUR CYCLISTS

As a personal injury practice who often represent cyclists who have suffered injuries in road accidents, we support The Times in their campaign to improve the safety of cycling in Britain’s towns and cities. The number of cyclists either killed or seriously injured continues to rise each year and cyclists in Britain are three times more likely to be killed than one in the Netherlands and twice as likely as a cyclist in either Denmark or Germany.

It seems that lorries pose a particular danger to cyclists. They account for just 5% of traffic but cause almost 20% of cyclists’ deaths. The Times would like to see a new covenant for cycling introduced which has statutory force.

This covenant has eight key requirements:-

• lorries entering a city or town centre should be required by law to fit sensors, alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under their wheels;
• the 500 most dangerous road junctions to be made safer for cyclists;
• there should be a national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how many are killed or injured each year;
• 2% of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for the next generation of cycle routes which could provide anything upto £100 million a year to improve the cycling infrastructure;
• the training of cyclists and drivers must be improved;
• 20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes;
• businesses should be encouraged to help sponsor cycleways;
• every city should appoint a cycling commissioner to improve the quality of cycling proficiency

We welcome this covenant. In our experience, a tiny mistake made by a driver can cost the life of a cyclist or leave the cyclist very badly injured. We welcome any changes which will make cycling safer.

Some stats on cycling

• 42% of people in Britain own a bicycle
• 3.1bn miles cycled in Britain in 2010
• 111 cyclists were killed on Britain’s roads in 2010, up 7% on 2009
• 26% of cycle deaths involve a lorry or a van
• 2,660 cyclists were seriously injured in 2010
• 3 times more likely to be killed cycling in Britain compared with cycling in the Netherlands
• 87% of respondents to a British Cycling survey said they had had an accident or near miss
• 16 miles average distance travelled by regular cyclists in Britain each week

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A YEAR TO REMEMBER (AND FORGET)

So much has happened in 2011. We at S J Edney have continued to act for a number of clients who have been injured and are entitled to compensation. Their claims vary from people who have been injured at hospital due to an error made by either a doctor or nurse and others injured at work, in a road accident or at a public place.

Mrs Janice Lawrence sought our advice about an independent report which was published in November 2011 following the death of her parents in 2007. This was a terrible case as her elderly parents were killed by their son (her brother) Mr Tim Crook in horrific circumstances. The independent inquiry acknowledged a number of failings on the part of two mental health services including Swindon which had resulted in the deterioration of Mr Crook’s medical condition which, in turn, led to these killings. Read more about this case.

2011 has also been a dreadful year for legal aid lawyers. Swingeing cuts of £350m will be made from the existing legal aid budget and are bound to impact on the most vulnerable people in our society and their ability to have access to justice. Personal injury lawyers are also smarting due to the proposed changes in the costs awarded from unsuccessful Defendants which are likely to make personal injury cases less profitable in the future.

In the new year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority will begin to regulate Alternative Business Structures which permit non lawyers to provide legal services direct to the public. It will be interesting to see how much competition the traditional law firm will face from these new market entrants.

Happy Christmas

THE TEAM AT S J EDNEY WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR CLIENTS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

Road accident causing brain injury

We are acting for a young man (now aged 17) who was involved in a road accident in Gloucester during May 2007. His parents had consulted another solicitor and were told that their son did not have a personal injury claim and they had come to our firm for a second opinion. This was a difficult case. Our client (who was then aged 13) and two of his friends were crossing a busy road. His two friends managed to cross the road on foot safely but when our client followed a short time later on his bicycle, he was struck by an oncoming car. Sadly, he suffered a severe head injury. In our view, blame attached to both the driver and our client for what had happened. The driver had been driving too fast in the circumstances given the congested area with children about but our client had emerged from between stationary traffic into the path of this driver without checking that it was safe to do so. A letter of claim was submitted to the driver’s insurers who disputed liability. Proceedings had to be issued at the Bristol District Registry. An early offer of 25%/75% in the driver’s favour was made but was rejected. After a number of further offers and counter offers we were able to apportion liability on a 38.5%/61.5% basis in the driver’s favour giving our client 38.5% of full liability damages. His damages will now need to be assessed.

The terms of this settlement were approved by the Judge at Bristol District Registry on the 13 April 2011.

Read more head injury cases by Solicitor S. J. Edney

THE NEGLECT OF THE ELDERLY IN THE NHS

This has been another bad few weeks for the NHS. Channel Four aired a programme on 28 February 2011 (Dispatches : Secret NHS Diaries) which made very uncomfortable viewing – it highlighted the shocking inadequacies of palliative care in the NHS. It featured an elderly man spending his final days in hospital. He was treated with appalling insensitivity by the nursing staff, even during simple everyday tasks such as mealtimes.

This programme came in the wake of a damming report from Ann Abraham, the Health Service Ombudsman, who had carried out an in-depth review of ten cases all involving patients aged over 65, and concluded that they all had suffered unnecessary pain, neglect and distress.

Read more by Swindon Solicitor Seamus Edney

Tetraplegic man Jamie Merrett's life support 'turned off by mistake'

We are acting for the family of Mr Jamie Merrett 37, from Devizes, whose ventilator was accidentally switched off by an agency nurse working for the NHS, Nurse Violetta Aylward, leaving him brain-damaged.

Mr Merrett has been cared for at home on a life-support machine since 2002 after being left paralysed from the neck downwards following a road accident. Mr Merrett was able to use a wheelchair and was able to talk and operate a computer using despite being tetraplegic.

His sister Karren Reynolds said he had become increasingly worried about serious errors involving nurses operating his ventilator, but claimed that health bosses did not act on e-mails of concern which he sent them.

Click here to read more about Jamie Merrett's case.

Professional Negligence Claims Soar

The number of professional services firms that are sued for negligence increased by 125% during 2009 to the highest level in more than a decade.

Solicitors face the most lawsuits with negligence claims arising from 80 in 2008 to 210 last year. Many of the claims against solicitors involve allegations of complicity in mortgage fraud. Lenders who have lost money because of mortgage fraud often regard pursuing solicitors and their other professional advisers as their best hope of recovering their losses.

The sharp rise in claims has resulted in huge increases in premiums for professional negligence insurance. Many small law firms, especially those who specialise in conveyancing are facing increases of upto 300% in the cost of their compulsory annual insurance cover which is causing crippling cash flow shortages as their fee income has also dropped due to the recent economic downturn.

The market for solicitors PI insurance was further squeezed by the collapse of Quinn, the Irish insurer that covered about 2900 small law firms in UK. Many of those firms are struggling to find replacement insurance by the 1 October 2010 deadline or have been forced to pay significantly higher premiums.

Workplace Death Rates fall to a record low

Some good news. The number of people killed at work fell to a record low last year according to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The HSE reported that 151 workers were killed between the 1 April 2009 and the 31 March 2010 compared with 178 the previous year. Despite the national trend for fewer deaths at work, the agricultural sector – the most dangerous industry in Britain – showed a marked increase. Last year 38 agriculture workers were killed up from 25 in 2008/09 which is a major cause for concern.

Client Referral Scheme

If a former or an existing client of Swindon Solicitors S.J.Edney recommends either a friend or a member of their family to our firm for advice about an accident or medical negligence claim and we are able to help them, as a token of our thanks we would give that client a £100.00 worth of vouchers of their choice or alternatively make a donation of this value to their nominated charity.

Swindon Solicitors S.J. Edney are Accident Specialists Telephone: 01793 600721