Knocked off by cops?
by Andrew Dalton on Oct.24, 2011, under Andrew Dalton, Articles
The Police aren’t always there to protect and serve, even they can mess up
I was riding my old CBR600 in London, when I heard a wail of sirens behind me. I checked over my shoulder and moved to the left, into a bus lane giving a quick signal. As I moved into the bus lane the police car had changed its position from behind me into the bus lane. I got skittled off my bike and was off work for four weeks. As I was hit from behind I thought I was pretty safe in assuming I would have an easy run in getting my bike paid for and my lost wages.
I got my insurance appointed solicitors who I thought could not cock up a case this straight forward, but they have advised me to take 80 per cent of the blame for entering a bus lane in front of an emergency vehicle – and if they fail to get 20 percent they have said they won’t take my case any further as the ‘law is complicated’.
They sent me to a hotel room where a doctor looked me over, but so far that’s all they’ve done. Am I right, or just too thick to understand the law?
Ex CBR Pilot, London NW
You’re the one in the right. The police driver owes a high duty of care to proceed with caution when driving in excess of the speed limit. The Association of Chief Police Officers give clear guidance to emergency responders, and one thing they actively warn drivers to consider is that other road users might respond in an unpredictable way, and your response was pretty predictable.
The law is even clearer, placing a high duty of care on emergency drivers. They get cut some slack when people do daft things in front of them, but they can’t rely on blue lights and sirens to cut through everything. A siren is no warning to a deaf person, for example. Your response was one which was utterly predictable. He should not be charging along next to the pavement anyway, he’s much safer in a travelling lane rather than a bus lane. As you heard the sirens suddenly it seems likely to me the officer had just got the emergency shout.
You need to be careful with that knee. We often find that a knee giving way in an otherwise fit individual is the first sign of real damage to the network of tendons that stabilise the knee. These can be career threatening injuries, or at least require a ligament rebuild. Don’t be too quick to think it is a strain.
The law firm your case has been sold to is well known to us. The clever ‘lawyer’ telling you the law is too complicated Is wrong (and Is neither clever nor a lawyer). As regular readers know, a lot of these firms who buy work in from your brokers at £750 per case have a limited time to reject the cases to get their referral fee back. They also have given up most of their fees in even a middle sized case to buy it off your broker to have a qualified, let alone experienced lawyer, look over your case. A quick check of the Law Society’s website revealed the person dealing with your case has no more legal qualifications than you. Makes you think, doesn’t it…
Andrew Dalton
Fast Bikes Magazine – October 2011
Andrew Dalton has been writing articles for Fast Bikes Magazine for a considerable period and have condensed what we believe are the most useful articles to you. White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors deal with personal injury claims and our sister company, Motor Defence Solicitors, deal with any road traffic offences.
About Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton is a highly experienced trial lawyer who delights in taking on difficult and demanding motorcycle cases. He has a tough and relentless litigation style and is utterly focussed on getting the best possible outcomes for his clients.
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October 29th, 2011 on 1:34 pm
Obviously all the sharks are not in the ocean.
I believe I am right in saying that there is no legal requirement for the rider to accept the ‘legal representative’ his insurance company prefers. All they are doing is ensuring they get their referal fee’.
Ken Lines.
October 31st, 2011 on 9:24 am
Unfortunately Ken, there is a trade in injured motorcyclists. I have seen motorcyclists be told they will not get fully comp claims met if they don’t use pet solicitors who – yup, you guessed it, pay referral fees. we get offered these arrangements on a weekly basis. We don’t have to buy claims. Bikers come to us because they know what they will be getting. Claims Management Companies buy leads off motorcycle shops and motorcycle brokers sell lists of hundreds of names to the types of law firm who have to buy work because they cannot generate enough work themselves. The firm in question pays the well known broker £750 for every referral. This rider’s case will generate a fee of about £1800 and may be a difficult one to bring if you do not have the skills to conclude it. So for what should be about 10 hours work to conclude (ie £180 x 10 = £1800) either it takes 10 hour work but the law firm can’t afford to pay a solicitor’s running costs out of it so you get a paralegal or a solicitor does it and just cuts corners. As it happened this rider moved over to us, and we issued his case in Court and it settled about a month before the trial date on a full liability basis – that is the client got the full value of his case but the Police did not admit any blame. And because we had the nerve to fight it we got paid a proper rate for the job as well. Interestingly, we could not get an independent barrister to fight this case in Court, so I was set to be the trial advocate, not that I mind but the legal expenses insurer (again organised through the insurance broker) was begining to get a bit nervy. The timidity of lawyers taking on the Police never ceases to suprise me.