We rocked up, had the safety briefing, got given all the gear and then rode out for instruction on off-road riding. The group was of mixed abilities, so the instructor was taking things slow. As an experienced rider on and off road, after about an hour I was a bit bored, so I razzed off for a spin on my own into a different field (we’d been told to stick together).
Unfortunately I didn’t see a ditch, and clattered off, breaking my leg. I want to sue the training school, but no solicitor will take on the case as apparently I didn’t follow the rules. Surely the training school should have to pay as they had a duty to make sure riders are safe. Am I right?
Answer
From what you have said you are completely wrong. If there has been a safety briefing and you were told to ride in one field, but decided to razz off into another, it seems to me you are at fault. You can’t just sue people because you got hurt through your own stupidity; you decided to undertake a fun, but risky, activity, then you didn’t follow the rules and got hurt.
Man up. It’s like telling someone the oven’s hot; they touch the oven, they get burnt and they moan they have a blistered hand. If everyone who got hurt could successfully sue companies when they ignored the rules, there would be no boxing clubs, no sailing clubs and no one hiring out of motorbikes. Sounds like a pretty dull, bubble wrapped world to me.
Andrew Prendergast
January 2015
