There is on the one hand the need to ensure that children are properly educated in road safety whilst at the same time, not discouraging them from being children and playing outside.  Then there is also the need to ensure that motorists have a better understanding of both the law and the potential weapon that their vehicle actually is.

I heard on the news this morning that approximately 80% of Britain deem themselves to be an above average driver! You only have to look around the roads where you live to know that this is simply not possible. Motorists are seemingly unaware of the contents of the Highway Code which is there to provide guidance and state the law!

One common misunderstanding is when a pedestrian is injured in a road traffic accident. The driver thinks that because they are driving within the speed limit, turning a corner then it is the fault of the pedestrian for crossing the road / stepping into it. Yet the Highway Code is clear that drivers should give way to pedestrians crossing the road into which they are turning. The duty is on the motorist to watch out for those at the side of the road and to think whether the person may step out, run out or do something completely unusual and reduce their speed accordingly. Whilst in the above circumstances a driver may avoid a criminal prosecution, it does not necessarily mean that civil liability would be avoided.

And then there are those people who speed, complain that they have been caught and then on top of that campaign against the speed cameras that caught them! Putting aside arguments that speed cameras are “money making machines”, to me that is as ludicrous as arguing that a policeman should lose his job for catching you shoplifting. If you don’t like the law, then campaign against the law and not the enforcement of it.

Having been declared a Nuclear Free city in 1980, Manchester soon developed links with the two Japanese cities and at 10:40am, a two minute silence took place in city centre. Led by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Mark Hackett, he described it as “one of the saddest anniversaries of the 20th Century”. Over 200,000 people were killed in the immediate aftermath and it is thought that over 400,000 more have died since, and continue to die, as a result of the two nuclear bombs.

As a nation, I can’t help but think that we have become complacent – accepting death as a result of war or civil unrest or even terrorist attacks as part of everyday life. But it is moments and opportunities like this that help us to focus our minds on what has happened in history; offering a period of reflection on the deaths of those ordinary and extraordinary men, women and children.

In Round 6 of the Championships at Knockhill, Fife, atrocious weather conditions caused mass disruption to the race programme. Despite a high speed crash for Sam during qualifying, the team worked hard to fix the bike in time for the race; replacing all the bodywork panels and seat unit along with bars and footrests, and of course pulling out Sam’s spare crash helmet as the original had been destroyed! Sam qualified 30th on the grid and decided to run on ‘wet tyres’. His race was scheduled to be run over 15 laps, but after 11 laps the race was stopped on safety grounds due to heavy rain. Sam finished 24th out of 30 starters.

Sam then entered two club races run by the club where he was DesmoDue Class B Champion in 2009. Two good performances resulted in a 2nd and 3rd place and two more trophies.

Then came Round 7 of the Championships at Snetterton, Norfolk, where weather conditions were much better than in Fife! However, qualifying was disrupted as part of the tarmac surface had started to break up and a two foot wide kerb had to be painted onto the track to keep riders away from it! The race started well but was stopped after two laps following a big crash which meant that five riders were unable to restart. The grid was modified and Sam re-started in 31st place. A steady race resulted in a 26th place finish from 38 starters, and a very happy Sam.

A spelling mistake outside of a school and an error on a bus lane causes a smile!

Meanwhile, road users in Downton (on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border) were left bewildered when workmen who were painting white lines down the centre of the road came across a dead badger blocking their path and instead of removing it decided that they would simply leave a gap.

However, workmen in Manchester took the opposite approach when their path was blocked whilst painting double yellow lines. Motorists who had parked their vehicles on roads with unrestricted parking in the city centre returned to discover that their vehicles had been lifted into the air and double yellow lines painted underneath.

On another amusing note, over the weekend over three million Germans threw a picnic / banquet along a 40 mile stretch of the autobahn to celebrate the Ruhr region, Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2010. I wonder what would happen if we tried this on the M6?!

The work of APIL is actively supported by thousands of dedicated personal injury lawyers, including many of our Personal Injury Department here at Croftons.

A not-for-profit organisation with a focus on improving the services provided for victims of personal injury, APIL ensures the promotion, encouragement and development of expertise within personal injury law.

On their 20th birthday, Chief Executive of APIL, Denise Kitchener commented that: “Over our 20 years we have faced many challenges to injured people’s rights and changes to our civil justice system. I am proud to say we have faced them head on and will continue to do so.”

We at Croftons continue to support the work of APIL and look forward to many more celebrations in the future.

A press release, outlining APIL’s work over the past two decades has been issued.

Ground breaking case law handed down from the Court of Appeal this week means that Defendants in noise induced hearing loss claims can no longer rely on the fact that they have no records of noise levels within the Claimant’s place of work as their defence. Should a Defendant try to raise this they will ultimately run the risk of having adverse inferences drawn from the absence of such records.

Mr Keefe spent his working life as a seaman and was employed by the Defendant for over 30 years. During this time, he suffered serious hearing damage. His claim was initially dismissed by HHJ Halbert sitting in Chester because, in his view, Mr Keefe had not proved that he had been exposed to a sufficient amount of noise over a significant period.

Neither party was able to provide engineering evidence of noise levels in the ships where Mr Keefe worked. However, by providing ear protectors for employees, the Defendants had shown that they were aware of noise problems.

In allowing the appeal LJ Longmore stated that;

‘It is a defendant’s duty to measure noise levels in places where his employees work and if he does not do so, it hardly lies in his mouth to assert that the noise levels were not, in fact, excessive.  In such circumstances the court should judge a claimant’s evidence benevolently and the defendant’s evidence critically. If a defendant fails to call witnesses at his disposal who could have evidence relevant to an issue in the case, that defendant runs the risk of relevant adverse findings. Similarly a defendant who has, in breach of duty, made it difficult or impossible for a claimant to adduce relevant evidence must run the risk of adverse factual findings. To my mind this is just such a case.”

Within the past week two young girls – Semelia Shenel Campbell, aged six from Manchester and Karolina Maria Golabek, aged five from Bridgend – have died as a result of the injuries they sustained when they were crushed by electric gates outside their respective homes.

The exact circumstances surrounding the separate incidents are not yet known, and further information is unlikely to be released until investigations are complete. The Health and Safety Executives investigations will undoubtedly consider the safety and suitability of the security gates and expert engineers will examine these issues carefully.

Our thoughts go out to the families involved. Whilst the results of any investigations are unlikely to bring comfort to them, it is our hope that further guidance and legislation will follow to prevent similar accidents happening in the future.

Mr S was working in 2007 when a container arrived from a company whose loads were known to be unsafe. Our client and his colleague opened the trailer and assessed the contents. The trailer was about three quarters full of boxes with the first few rows being stepped. Behind this, the boxes were stacked up to 12 boxes high and 14 boxes across the width of the container. Each box weighed around four to six kilograms and there was an indication that the load wasn’t secure as the boxes were leaning forward slightly. Mr S reported the unsafe load to his manager, who instructed him to return and unload the container.

As this was being done, five or six columns of stacked boxes suddenly toppled over and caused our client to fall and be trapped on the floor. The physical injuries meant that he was unable to work for around six weeks and although physiotherapy helped with his recovery he remains reluctant to lift heavy loads out of concern that his symptoms may return.

Victoria Slater represented Mr. S in his claim that his employers were negligent and in breach of their duties by failing to implement a safe system of work. Whilst his employers attempted to put some of the blame on Mr. S, these arguments were entirely unsuccessful and Mr. S’s claim was settled on a 100% basis in his favour for £4,500.

Sam, aged 22, is actively pursuing his passion for motorbike racing alongside studying mechanical engineering at Coventry University. Last season, he was the Class B champion in the DesmoDue Championship, proving that he had returned to form after breaking his leg and when asked by Roy Armstrong, owner of Ital Sport, to ride one of his 850cc Ducati motorbikes in the National Superstock Championships 2010, his answer was a resounding “yes!”

Jeff was a guest of the Water Lane Physio Team and says “I had a most enjoyable day, having the opportunity of seeing close up the mechanical preparation that goes into the Ducati motorbike, the final preparations as the tyres were heated for the race and also watching Sam as he prepared himself both physically and mentally for his race.

I was struck by the atmosphere in the paddocks; the sense of tension, the noise of the bike’s before they entered the race circuit and then the background noise of motorbikes going around the circuit at speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour. It was all really intense!

Unfortunately for Sam, during the race, his bike’s gear leaver toe-bar became detached, which meant that he was unable to change gear effectively. He was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to ride the bike to its full potential. Yet despite this, the bike’s on board computer recorded speed in excess of 175 miles per hour along one of the straights of the circuit! If Sam can ride a bike at these speeds, with a missing gear leaver toe-bar, he must have a great future ahead of him!

Talking to Sam afterwards, I was struck by his quiet self confidence in his undoubted ability to ride motorbikes of this size and power, which to the casual observer seemed breathtakingly dangerous.”

During 2006 Mrs. B was grabbed by a male patient and restrained by her left wrist, which was twisted during the struggle. Liability was strongly disputed by her employer. However Croftons maintained that her employer was negligent by failing to make suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employee, particularly the risks posed by the patient and judgment was entered in favour of the claimant in 2008.

Jeff Palmer, the Crofton’s Partner acting for Mrs B said “The major psychological impact of the assault was largely agreed by both parties, but there continued to be a serious disagreement about the cause of the physical injuries to our client. The Defendant’s medical expert expressed the opinion that Mrs B’s wrist problems were due to a rare congenital abnormality, even though she had been completely symptom-free until the assault.

Finally both parties agreed it would be best to instruct a mediator to help resolve the claim, and in early 2010 settlement was agreed.

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